Marco Rossi gets three-year, $15 million deal with Wild

Marco Rossi played in every Wild game last season, was the team’s second-leading scorer, had career highs in goals and assists, yet …

When the Wild were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Vegas, he was centering the fourth line, and he left Minnesota saying he definitely felt he was a “top six” forward, meaning a regular on one of the top two lines.

So began the summer of some discontent, one where the restricted free agent heard his name in trade talks as he worked out in his native Austria.

“I tried to control what I could control,” said Rossi, who finally signed a three-year, $15 million contract with the Wild on Friday. “In the back of your head is the contract … you hear the talks from your agent and everything.

“But I feel good now and can’t wait to go back to Minny and see the boys.”

The 23-year-old center got a “bridge deal” to free agency in three years, and that’s just fine with Wild President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin.

“That’s a positive thing, when players bet on themselves,” Guerin said on a conference call. “Nowadays it’s different. This might sound harsh, but if you’re betting on yourself with 15 million dollars in your pocket, that’s a pretty good safety net.

Rossi had 24 goals and 36 assists last season, his best since the Wild drafted him ninth overall in 2020.

He spent the first part of the season in a top-six role, playing with high-scoring wingers Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy, among others. But his production tailed off, and coach John Hynes had him on a fourth line with Justin Brazeau and Yakov Trenin for most of the Golden Knights series.

“There was a lot made of the line changes that Hynesie made during the playoffs, and too big of a deal was made out of that,” Guerin said. “When you’re in a playoff series, you’re constantly adjusting and not really worried about who is playing with who, you’re worried about winning games.

“This goes for everybody, not just Marco Rossi. If things aren’t going well, things need to be changed or adjusted … then we have to change lines, or do something that’s going to help get us success as a team.

“I do agree with Marco, though, I think he’s a top-six forward.”

A bit undersized by NHL standards at 5-9 and 182 pounds, Rossi stood up to the physical pounding as one of only three Wild players to skate in every game. He’s keen on improving his 46.8% faceoff win percentage, and spent some time this offseason with former NHL star center Joe Thornton.

“Main focus was just faceoffs … he’s one of the best faceoff guys and has so much experience out there. He can teach me a lot, so that was really helpful for me.”

Rossi regularly traveled to nearby Switzerland to train with Swiss players in the NHL such as Timo Meier, Philipp Kurashev and Jonas Siegenthaler.

“I had a really good offseason and I feel really strong,” he said. “Last year I had the mindset to get better, and same mindset now, try to get better.

“Everything that happened happened, you know?”

Guerin declined to address the status of a contract extension for Kaprizov. As for the Rossi deal, it developed slowly.

“On the team side, we know what we’re willing to pay players, and the lengths we want to go … I think it’s the player’s willingness to sign that contract,” Guerin said.

“[Rossi’s agents] reengaged with us about a month back, and it was a smart thing to do, it was them showing their willingness to get a deal done. And we showed our willingness to get a deal done by offering a little bit more. That’s how things get done. In the end, it’s the player’s decision to say, ‘That’s good, I’ll take it,’ and then you move on.”