MN Wild’s Latest Lowball Offer to Marco Rossi was Borderline Disrespectful

Finally, after years of being hogtied by the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyout penalties, the Minnesota Wild came into this spring/summer with legitimate salary cap dollars to spend for the first time since president of hockey operations Bill Guerin took over as head decision-maker.

Unfortunately, the early part of the 2025 offseason has not gone as planned. Guerin was hoping that Minnesota native Brock Nelson would choose to come home and play for the Wild. He instead re-signed in Colorado, after the Avalanche made a deal for him at the trade deadline a few months ago.

Suddenly, the top-six centerman Guerin was determined to find this offseason is becoming quite elusive. But one thing remains clear, the Minnesota Wild have little interest in turning back to their 23-year-old former first round center, who’s coming off of his first 60-point season in the NHL.

According to Michael Russo (The Athletic) Guerin and Rossi’s agency have stepped away from the negotiating table, even though the NHL Draft is now just a week out. If you’re wondering why the lack of urgency, look no further than the last time the two sides got together.

Minnesota Wild lowballing Marco Rossi on purpose…?

That’s when, per Russo, the Minnesota low-balled Marco Rossi with a short-term (2 years) contract offer worth less than $5 million AAV. This, after talks earlier this season sprouted a long-term offer (5 years) from the Wild that would have been worth a total of $25 million, more in AAV than the more recent short-term offer.

There could be an incentive to [trade Rossi] before July 1 because that’s when the pending restricted free agent would be eligible to sign an offer sheet elsewhere.

As of now, the Wild and Rossi have taken a break on negotiations. Earlier this season, the team offered Rossi a five-year, $25 million extension, which he rejected. His camp countered with a short-term deal with a high average annual value, which the Wild didn’t accept. Minnesota recently offered a two-year deal with an AAV less than $5 million, and Rossi didn’t accept that.

Michael Russo – The Athletic

In his perfect world, the Minnesota Wild would offer Marco Rossi — who scored 24 goals and assisted on 36 more last season — the same type of deal they did Matt Boldy ($7 million AAV). Of course, we know that isn’t happening as long he is negotiating with Bill Guerin.

No doubt, however, Rossi’s ask would be more than reasonable on the open-market. Which brings us back to these unserious contract negotiations. The MN Wild knew when they offered Marco Rossi a lower AAV on a short-term deal, than they did months earlier on a long-term contract, that he would reject it.

Obviously, Guerin was trying to send some sort of message through his negotiating tactics. Will they payoff? We may not know the answer to that question until years down the road. But if the Minnesota Wild want to move Marco Rossi before the 2025 NHL Draft, then it’d be in their own best interest to do it sooner than later.

Marco Rossi was hoping for Matt Boldy money

Because unless something changes drastically in Bill Guerin’s thinking, it sure doesn’t seem like a Rossi contract extension is coming before that July 1 soft deadline. The way Russo writes, it sounds like the magic number on a short-term deal would be $6 million, a number that Guerin has no interest in offering… at least for now.

[Rossi] had been looking for a long-term deal in the Matt Boldy range ($7 million) — an area the Wild have so far shown no appetite to go near. So unless the Wild change course and offer him a two- or three-year deal with a significantly higher AAV ($6 million?), the sides will remain in a stalemate.

Michael Russo – The Athletic

Related: Report: MN Wild Targeting Three Centers, Need One

Bill Guerin may not think all that highly of Marco Rossi, but that doesn’t mean he’s willing to let him go on the cheap. In Russo’s report, the longtime MN Wild insider notes that the president of hockey operations is determined to get a direct replacement for Rossi’s production, in any trade.

So far, all of the offers he has gotten have been draft picks. In fact, it sounds like the Vancouver Canucks have put their No. 15 overall pick on the table, an offer that Guerin has thus far rejected. If he is going to deal Marco for a draft pick, he needs a decent player to come back, as well.

Minnesota Wild determined to get good value in Rossi deal

Given the vibes that Guerin & Co. have been putting out on their former 2020 No. 9 overall pick, I’m not sure how he gets on the phone and asks that much from other NHL decision-makers with a straight face. Nonetheless, that’s exactly what he is doing. And from the sounds of it… he’s been on the phone A LOT.

…as far as we know, Guerin has so far been offered mostly futures for Rossi. While Guerin would likely take a player and a first-rounder and perhaps flip the first-rounder elsewhere, he definitely doesn’t want just a first-rounder.

That’s the offer (the No. 15 pick) that the Vancouver Canucks likely made for Rossi.

So we’ll see where this goes this week, but the one thing, that’s certain from talking to sources around the league, is Guerin has been on the phone a lot and seems very motivated to make trades.

Michael Russo – The Athletic