With free agency less than a month away, teams are starting to figure out which players they want to target. For the Utah Mammoth, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman recently called them the team to watch this summer. They've already been linked to some big names thanks to their cap space — but there might be another move worth exploring.
They could benefit from submitting an offer sheet for Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi.
Rossi, 23, has all the tools to become a high-end offensive producer in the NHL. He played in all 82 games last season, scoring 24 goals and 36 assists for 60 points. That’s a solid breakout after starting just a few seasons ago in the AHL with Iowa. Through 185 career NHL games, he’s already hit 101 points — strong value for a player still finding his ceiling.
The only knock? His size. At 5-foot-9, 182 pounds, he’s smaller than most, but if Utah views him strictly as a skill-first scorer rather than expecting him to play a heavy game, he’s a great fit.
According to the offer sheet structure, Utah could offer Rossi between $4.6 and $7.0 million and only have to give up a first and third-round pick in 2026. That’s manageable for them. While they only have one first next year, they own two thirds and three seconds. If their first ends up in the 20–32 range, there’s not a major gap between pick 25 and pick 37 in terms of talent. So if they had to lean on four picks between rounds two and three instead, they’d be fine.
There have been rumblings that the Wild might not see Rossi as part of their long-term plans. If that’s true, the odds of them passing on matching a decent offer go up. Utah would be smart to test that.
Rossi could slide in as Utah’s second-line center behind Logan Cooley and play with guys like Josh Doan, Nick Schmaltz, or Lawson Crouse. That could change if the Mammoth land another big piece up front, but either way, there’s a path for him to play meaningful minutes.
If Utah is looking to get aggressive, submitting an offer sheet in the range of $6.5 to $6.75 million over six or seven years makes a lot of sense.
