C Marco Rossi - Ottawa 67’s, OHL (2020 Draft)

[Mickey Marner]

I like Rossi but I agree with what you're saying. He scored a ton so people are probably expecting some dynamic high scoring player, when in reality he could be a really good 2-way 50-60 point player and people would call him a bust. Kind of the Sam Reinhart effect in Buffalo.

Personally I see him as a guy that, when looking back on this draft in a few years, has little to no shot of being considered a top 3 player from this draft, but a pretty high chance being in the top 10.

Strongly agree with this.

 

[bert]

No one was comparing him, just noting that centers can succeed if they are shorter than 6 feet tall.

You starting trotting out this "noticability" factor that no one but you uses to evaluate prospects, which is confusing but whatever. We get it, he's not your favorite prospect...

No one uses the eye test anymore? Ok. Ridiculous comment.

I also just compared him to Claude Giroux, lofty expectations to say the least. To say I dont like him is also highly questionable when I make a comparison like that.

 

[newfy]

Literally the best player in the eastern conference this postseason is a center that was last officially measured under 5-10.

A couple things about this (and remember I've already said hes top 7 this draft), being able to point to one player in the history of the game doesnt necessarily help make your point. The skating difference between the 2 is drastic as well.

Lastly, I have a suspicion that not having a combine actually helped Rossi. I think he mighta pulled a Hughes and not got measured because when I've watched him play I dont fully trust the 5'9 hes listed at. I could easily see him measuring at less than that. Hes built like a brick shit house obviously but without an "official" measurement from Rossi its hard to compare anyways. I would also say Point being a late round pick showed how less physically developed he was, how far he had to go and would be more likely to still have a bit of growth post draft compared to Rossi being as old as he is.

 

[bert]

A couple things about this (and remember I've already said hes top 7 this draft), being able to point to one player in the history of the game doesnt necessarily help make your point. The skating difference between the 2 is drastic as well.

Lastly, I have a suspicion that not having a combine actually helped Rossi. I think he mighta pulled a Hughes and not got measured because when I've watched him play I dont fully trust the 5'9 hes listed at. I could easily see him measuring at less than that. Hes built like a brick shit house obviously but without an "official" measurement from Rossi its hard to compare anyways. I would also say Point being a late round pick showed how less physically developed he was, how far he had to go and would be more likely to still have a bit of growth post draft compared to Rossi being as old as he is.

Great post.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Who is more noticable in an NHL game than Rossi is in an OHL game. At some point people gotta use the eye test as well as looking at statistics.

Wasn’t Rossi voted as like the best at everything in the OHL by coaches lol? I don’t think he’ll be as good as Point, but a half inch or whatever won’t be a factor.

 

[BondraTime]

Wasn’t Rossi voted as like the best at everything in the OHL by coaches lol? I don’t think he’ll be as good as Point, but a half inch or whatever won’t be a factor.

Which shouldn’t be surprising, he is far and away the most developed player in the draft, and one of the most skilled. He’s not a 17 year old kid growing into his body. He’s a very skilled player with an extremely advanced development advantage over nearly every single draft eligible player.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Not really no, Rossi always gets his points but he isnt a noticable play driver from game to game.

This Marco Rossi isn't a play driver chatter is about as inaccurate as can be.

Rossi carries the puck more than anyone on his team. He lead his team in zone entries and was one of the league leaders in zone entries. He's got a shitload of primary assists. He drives the puck to the net, around the net, or he slows it down at the half boards, draws an opposition double team to himself then dishes it off to Hoefenmayer who shoots it, and that shot causes chaos around the net, and then a garbage goal is scored either by Rossi or Rossi's linemates.

Just because he isn't dangling people all the time like Perfetti doesn't mean he isn't a line driver. Zetterberg didn't deke people out of their pants like Datsyuk but was every bit as effective for Detroit.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Which shouldn’t be surprising, he is far and away the most developed player in the draft, and one of the most skilled. He’s not a 17 year old kid growing into his body. He’s a very skilled player with an extremely advanced development advantage over nearly every single draft eligible player.

Hasn’t the age thing been totally debunked? 10 months or whatever doesn’t give a player a significant development advantage. When has that ever really mattered? We’ve heard that stuff in Matthews vs Laine, Kane vs JVR, Tavares vs Duchene, and many more.

 

[BondraTime]

Hasn’t the age thing been totally debunked? 10 months or whatever doesn’t give a player a significant development advantage. When has that ever really mattered? We’ve heard that stuff in Matthews vs Laine, Kane vs JVR, Tavares vs Duchene, and many more.

Not talking about his age, that's a much, much smaller thing to look at. I'm talking about his physical development, which is light years ahead of of 99% of the CHL.

 

[flashsabre]

Wasn’t Rossi voted as like the best at everything in the OHL by coaches lol? I don’t think he’ll be as good as Point, but a half inch or whatever won’t be a factor.

Let’s all remember that Point wasn’t a highly thought of prospect, someone that was going to be an NHL impact player. He developed his game. People deciding if a player will be good or not pre draft is ridiculous. We don’t know who will develop and who won’t.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Not talking about his age, that's a much, much smaller thing to look at. I'm talking about his physical development, which is light years ahead of of 99% of the CHL.

That seems like a credit to his work ethic and natural makeup. These aren’t 12 year olds. Rossi has plenty of physical gains to make just as any other 18-19 year old does.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Hasn’t the age thing been totally debunked? 10 months or whatever doesn’t give a player a significant development advantage. When has that ever really mattered? We’ve heard that stuff in Matthews vs Laine, Kane vs JVR, Tavares vs Duchene, and many more.

Oi, you just reminded me of Tavares' draft year when everybody and their dog was supposedly a challenger for the top spot because of (insert silly reason here). I couldn't believe it when people were saying Duchene should go above him.

 

[BondraTime]

That seems like a credit to his work ethic and natural makeup. These aren’t 12 year olds. Rossi has plenty of physical gains to make just as any other 18-19 year old does.

It is, Rossi is likely the most dedicated guy in the draft. He also likely has the least physical development to undergo moving to the NHL. He's not going to grow any taller, and he has been training like a pro for years, he's already built like a seasoned vet. He has tuning left, and I don't see anyway someone could think he has the same gains that most other draft eligible guys have. That's a sentiment shared by many scouts.

Rossi is going to be a fantastic player, but he's the closest to his ceiling out of every player in the top 10 very easily IMO.

 

[bert]

Hasn’t the age thing been totally debunked? 10 months or whatever doesn’t give a player a significant development advantage. When has that ever really mattered? We’ve heard that stuff in Matthews vs Laine, Kane vs JVR, Tavares vs Duchene, and many more.

People/players develop at a different rate, its certainly not linear. Just because a guy is a late doesnt mean he has more physical development to do and vice versa. Teams do deep dives into genetics and what not, they keep track if a player hasnt grown in a year etc.

 

[bert]

This Marco Rossi isn't a play driver chatter is about as inaccurate as can be.

Rossi carries the puck more than anyone on his team. He lead his team in zone entries and was one of the league leaders in zone entries. He's got a shitload of primary assists. He drives the puck to the net, around the net, or he slows it down at the half boards, draws an opposition double team to himself then dishes it off to Hoefenmayer who shoots it, and that shot causes chaos around the net, and then a garbage goal is scored either by Rossi or Rossi's linemates.

Just because he isn't dangling people all the time like Perfetti doesn't mean he isn't a line driver. Zetterberg didn't deke people out of their pants like Datsyuk but was every bit as effective for Detroit.

Did you even read my post?

I guess were seeing different things, I like Rossi alot but dont like the Point comparison personally. Lafreniere, Byfield, Quinn and Perfetti are more noticable game in game out from what I observed. Rossi is incredible effective though, you dont have to be pushing the play all the time to help your team win. He makes alot of subtle plays. Points motor and puck carrying ability is very different from the way Rossi creates offense.

Claude Giroux is a much better comparison for Rossi in my estimation.

He isnt beating players with his skating, he is with his brain. After watching him 30+ times in the last two years I have significant doubts about his ability to beat NHL defenders with his physical abilities. He was also far less noticable against the better teams.

Like Bondratime has mentioned he is very advanced from a physical development stand point which leads me to wonder about him moving forward and how close he is to his physical peak. Which already isn't a strength.

He is too smart not to be a good player at the NHL level but I do truly wonder about his peak. As without the ability to back off defenders he can eventually be easier defended by NHL teams.

 

[newfy]

That seems like a credit to his work ethic and natural makeup. These aren’t 12 year olds. Rossi has plenty of physical gains to make just as any other 18-19 year old does.

This has been touched on a million times in this thread. Yes, he'll make physical gains obviously but lets not pretend hes got the frame/body to make the same physical gains as guys like Raymond and Perfetti. Some guys are more physically mature and Rossi is one of those guys. Hes not going to be able to add a whole heck of a lot more muscle without it impacting his skating for example.

In 2014, did Ekblad and Brayden Point both have physical gains to make? Obviously, but did one have more physical growth ahead than the other? Also extremely obvious

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

This has been touched on a million times in this thread. Yes, he'll make physical gains obviously but lets not pretend hes got the frame/body to make the same physical gains as guys like Raymond and Perfetti. Some guys are more physically mature and Rossi is one of those guys. Hes not going to be able to add a whole heck of a lot more muscle without it impacting his skating for example.

In 2014, did Ekblad and Brayden Point both have physical gains to make? Obviously, but did one have more physical growth ahead than the other? Also extremely obvious

Height and weight isn’t really the same thing as “frame”. Someone could be 6-4 with dainty wrists and ankles and a low percentage of type II muscle fibers. I don’t know the body composition of any of these guys. There’s a lot more to strength and size potential than just looking at raw height and weight figures.

 

[Great Panda 2]

Oi, you just reminded me of Tavares' draft year when everybody and their dog was supposedly a challenger for the top spot because of (insert silly reason here). I couldn't believe it when people were saying Duchene should go above him.

Funny enough, I found a quote I made a little over 11 years ago.

I wouldn't take Tavares over Hedman. I get that Hedman is soft and not really an agressive player but Tavares doesn't go into the corner at all and doesn't force the play and doesn't make his teammates better. He would be a top 3 winger in the league but he's so good that teams will play him down the middle by default. If you let someone else do the dirty center work and let him use his shot and shit, he will be running against Ovichkin for lead league in goals every year.

He won't get past the first round if the islanders play him as their top center. Never ever ever ever.

Hedman will be a top pairing, cornerstone centre. Mark my words, he's the better pick for first overall all day.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Funny enough, I found a quote I made a little over 11 years ago.

You were pretty on it with a few things there. Hedman was the only guy that ever gave me pause, you don't see players of his size with that kind of skating and skillset come along too often.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Literally the best player in the eastern conference this postseason is a center that was last officially measured under 5-10.

I like how you try to manipulate the wording.

To be clear, he measured in at 5’9 3/4 at the NHL Combine, which is always rounded up to 5’10. I don’t know where the current Rossi measurement is coming from, but we all know if he was 5’9 3/4, he would be listed at 5’10.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

I like how you try to manipulate the wording.

To be clear, he measured in at 5’9 3/4 at the NHL Combine, which is always rounded up to 5’10. I don’t know where the current Rossi measurement is coming from, but we all know if he was 5’9 3/4, he would be listed at 5’10.

If you’re 5’9 3/4, you aren’t 5’10”. Sorry that’s inconvenient for your narrative.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

If you’re 5’9 3/4, you aren’t 5’10”. Sorry that’s inconvenient for your narrative.

It doesn't exactly matter. There is clearly at least a difference between where players of Rossi's listed height are and where players listed at 5'10 are. If you want to bog the discussion down so much into the weeds, we can call it as Rossi's listed height is still in a range that doesn't yield any current top 6 centers.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Any Austrian posters willing to go up to the kid with a tape measure so we can finally put this pedantic discussion to an end ffs?

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

It doesn't exactly matter. There is clearly at least a difference between where players of Rossi's listed height are and where players listed at 5'10 are. If you want to bog the discussion down so much into the weeds, we can call it as Rossi's listed height is still in a range that doesn't yield any current top 6 centers.

That’s right.

The greatest center of the generation is 5’11”. Wow, that inch and a half to two inches must be really important. And again, when you factor in the fact that we’re dealing with inaccurate measurements, it becomes even less meaningful.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Funny enough, I found a quote I made a little over 11 years ago.

Wow, you deserve some bragging rights with that take. Since you seem so prescient, what does your top 10 look like this year? Also curious what you think of Sanderson...