Wild centre Marco Rossi could be traded and he'd be a good fit for Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks badly need another top-six centre and players of that archetype are hard to come by.
President of hockey operations Jim Rutherford has been open and candid about the organization’s plan to trade for a quality centre. The Canucks are willing to dangle their first-round pick and more in any trade.
The problem the Canucks face is finding a young, proven centre who another team is willing to part ways with. However, there’s one 23-year-old who might just check all the right boxes.
Marco Rossi and the Minnesota Wild seem to be going through a rocky stretch. Despite impressive scoring numbers, it appears as if the Wild don’t view the Austrian as a key piece of their future and would consider moving him this summer.
Rossi scored 24 goals and 60 points in 82 regular-season games this year. But when the playoffs rolled around, he was relegated to the fourth line and ranked 11th in average ice time among Wild forwards.
Despite his reduced role, Rossi scored twice in the postseason. He met with coach John Hynes to discuss his demotion, but was never elevated in the lineup.
There’s a clear disconnect between the Wild and Rossi. Whether it’s because of his play style or diminutive height, the Wild aren’t giving him the typical opportunities most budding stars get.
“I have no doubt I am for sure a top-six guy,” said Rossi at his year-end exit interview.
Rossi is a restricted free agent this summer and is in line for a big contract. The Wild offered him a five-year deal during the season that was rejected, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo.
Hockey consulting company AFP Analytics projects Rossi getting either $4.5 million for two years or $7.39 million for seven years on his next contract. The Canucks can fit those deals into their salary cap picture.
The Wild have the salary cap space to sign those deals, too, but it seems like they don’t value Rossi as highly as the open market does. While the Wild don’t appear to be sold on Rossi, there’s no reason the Canucks shouldn’t be.
He’s scored at least 20 goals in each of the past two seasons and would’ve led the Canucks in points this year. The Wild outscored opponents 56-43 with Rossi on the ice at five-on-five, the best ratio of any forward on the team except for Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek.
Rossi was 14th among players his age or younger in points last season and 17th in goals. He can contribute on the power play and has shown a clear upward development trend across his career thus far.
The elephant in the room is Rossi’s size. He’s listed at just 5-foot-9, making him tied for the title of fifth shortest player in the entire league. That’s not ideal, especially for a Canucks forward group that’s already lacking some bite, but you’re not going to find the perfect player on the trade market.
More and more smaller players are thriving in the NHL and proving that height is not a good reason to overlook a productive player.
It’s not often that young, talented centres seem ready to break loose onto the trade market. While there will surely be numerous teams after the skilled forward, Rossi fits the Canucks needs too well to not pursue a trade this summer.