Minnesota Wild Not Signing Marco Rossi to Long-Term Contract Would Be a Mistake – The Hockey Writers – Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild restricted free agent (RFA) Marco Rossi is still seeking a new contract. Michael Russo of The Athletic went on the Worst Seats in the House podcast and reported that the two sides have not negotiated Rossi’s contract extension since the beginning of free agency. The two sides remain $2 million apart, with all signs indicating they are not close to a new contract.

Rossi is looking for a seven-year deal worth $7 million per season, while GM Bill Guerin and the Wild have offered him a five-year contract worth $5 million per season. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Rossi was not only upset about being used on the fourth line in the playoffs, but he’d also like to be a team’s top-line center. However, the Wild are making a mistake by not signing him to a long-term deal.

Rossi’s Breakout

Rossi is coming off a career season in which he recorded career-highs in goals (24), assists (36), and points (60) in 82 games. He showed significant growth in both his offensive and defensive game, and thrived in a second-line center role for most of the season.

While Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek missed time simultaneously during the second half of the season, Rossi played first-line minutes, recording nine points in the 21 games while Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek were both out, and he added another two points when Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek were both inserted back into the lineup in a 8-7 overtime win vs the San Jose Sharks.

Rossi is still developing his all-around game. Many projections have his ceiling capped as a second-line center, but he can be a first-line center with the right opportunity, and his underlying analytics back it up. Last season, Rossi showed that he is capable of becoming one of the better two-way forwards in the league. According to Evolving Hockey, he ranked in the 87th percentile in offense and the 71st percentile in defense. His even-strength offense goals above replacement (GAR) was just above nine, while his expected goals above replacement (xGAR) was just above nine as well. If you include his even-strength defense and power-play offense, he was above zero in both GAR and xGAR in those areas.

Compared to his counterpart, Matt Boldy, Rossi blew him out of the water. Boldy only ranked in the 46th percentile in offense and 65th in defense with a mix of GAR and xGAR above and below zero. However, Boldy produced 73…