Wild’s Marco Rossi Trade Prospects Dim

Minnesota Faces Hurdles in Moving Center

The Minnesota Wild’s options to trade Marco Rossi have seemingly vanished, and the team might be better off retaining him. The situation has become complicated by a lack of suitable replacements, making a trade potentially detrimental.

Contract Complications and Limited Options

A recent article suggests that the Wild’s potential trade market for Marco Rossi has dwindled. According to the report, the recent deal for Brock Nelson with the Colorado Avalanche removed the best replacement option. The article suggests that any trade involving Rossi might ultimately weaken the Wild.

The article also examined other potential free-agent centers. It was determined that John Tavares, Sam Bennett and Claude Giroux are inclined to remain with their existing teams. Additionally, Jonathan Toews and Matt Duchene do not present obvious upgrades, even considering the latter’s past relationship with Wild head coach John Hynes.

Several teams have withdrawn key center options from the trade market. The Vancouver Canucks are hesitant to trade Elias Pettersson. Furthermore, the New York Islanders are not interested in moving Bo Horvat or Mathew Barzal, the Vegas Golden Knights feel the same with William Karlsson and the New York Ranger Mika Zibanejad, while the Calgary Flame Nazem Kadri have trade protection.

A Look at Previous Team Strategies

The Wild might consider a similar approach as the Carolina Hurricanes took last summer. After failing to trade forward Martin Nečas last offseason, the Hurricanes signed him to a two-year deal before trading him. That would be a significant risk for the Wild, because players with Mikko Rantanen’s talent rarely become available on the trade market.

“Rossi and his representation haven’t shown much interest in a short-term offer either.”

— Source

According to reports from earlier in June, Rossi was seeking a seven-year deal from the Wild, but he wasn’t interested in the team’s offer of a five-year deal. The Wild’s strategy of keeping Rossi might be the best choice, and the team may need to make a plan to keep the talented center. The percentage of NHL players remaining with the same team for a 5-year contract is 45% (Source: NHL.com).

The Road Ahead

Unless another center becomes available in the coming weeks, it makes little sense for the Wild to move on from Rossi. As the summer progresses, the likelihood of him signing a shorter-term contract rises, as it outweighs the possibility of missing the start of the season.