Vancouver Canucks 'very interested' in acquiring Marco Rossi from Minnesota: report
Western Family and the Vancouver Canucks have teamed up to create Bar Down Blast – a limited-edition treat featuring vanilla ice cream swirled with blue ripple and caramel-filled mini chocolatey pucks.
It sounds like the Vancouver Canucks are quite fond of Marco Rossi.
The 23-year-old Minnesota Wild centre is a player we’ve wondered about before regarding concerns the Canucks’ search for a centre.
Coming off a 60-point (24-36-60) season in just his second full year in the NHL, Rossi might not be long for the State of Hockey. He’s a restricted free agent, but seemed to fall out of favour of Wild head coach John Hynes and general manager Bill Guerin.
In an interview with Thomas Drance and Jamie Dodd on Sportsnet 650 today, Minnesota beat writer Michael Russo from The Athletic said he believes Rossi will be moved by the end of the month. And he also thinks the Canucks have interest in him.
“I definitely hear from really good sources that Vancouver really likes Marco and is very interested in Marco. Does that mean a trade? Does that mean an offer sheet? One or the other? Who knows,” Russo said.
“We’ll see where it goes, but I definitely get the impression that we’re going to see him getting a new change of address here by the end of the month.”
Rossi is due for a raise from his entry-level contract, but Guerin is apparently hesitant to give the 5-foot-9 Austrian what he wants because of his lack of size.
“I don’t think that Bill Guerin really feels that he can function in the playoffs,” Russo said. “He’s undersized, he doesn’t lack courage, he just is undersized… He’s as determined as you can be. He’s a total pro. If Vancouver gets him, they’d be extremely lucky to get him, because he’s just going to continue getting better and better just because he is such an absolute professional.”
Guerin was Jim Rutherford’s assistant general manager in Pittsburgh for five years, so they’re certainly not strangers. Perhaps that will grease the wheels for a potential trade.
Rossi scored three points (2-1-3) in six playoff games, but didn’t appear to have the trust of the coaching staff. He was dropped to the fourth line for the entire series against the Vegas Golden Knights, seeing his average ice time go from 18:15 in the regular season to 11:08 in the playoffs. He never played more than 12:10 in any postseason game.
As for how much it could cost to re-sign Rossi, AFP Analytics projects him to command $4.5 million a season on a two-year deal, or $7.39 million annually on a seven-year contract.