Minnesota Wild General Discussion - 2023-24

[NHL1674]

I don't think Rossi gets traded. Why would they do that? Makes no sense to me.

Because when you're not one of Billy's boys, you get dealt no matter your talent.

 

[AKL]

You're not wrong.....but I fail to see how BG could have little faith in Rossi based on what we've seen this season. His first showing in the NHL, he looked tentative and seemed intimidated by the speed and size of the NHL. I'm not seeing that this season. So I would think that it would be a "big leap" for BG to have the same opinion of Rossi this season compared to last season.

Fundamentally, I'm not opposed to moving him for the right price. But I honestly don't know what the return would be, since I haven't really given it any thought since I think the likelihood of trading him this summer is extremely remote.

I generally agree, it doesn't make sense to me, but it doesn't have to make sense to me because, to my dismay, Guerin is the GM and I'm not.

I think Guerin can be very stubborn and arrogant, (and I don't think it's controversial to think that) and so I can see where he wouldn't easily change his mind on a diminutive player who isn't overly aggressive on the ice, despite being a very good player otherwise. He definitely has a style he prefers. Fiala and Addison didn't fit, so he moved them, and that was disappointing.

All I'm saying is it wouldn't surprise me and I'd be very disappointed if the same happened with Rossi. I don't think it's likely he gets traded this summer, just sharing my opinion on the potential that they do look to move him, as reported by Russo.

 

[NHL1674]

And further more, they can stop with the silly, "We're not ready to commit yet" excuse. They're supposedly unsure, yet continue to put him in scenarios where he can't excel. If they want to see what he can do, if they want to give him a real chance, then stop burying him in the %#@!Ig lineup!

He's shown great progress this year, yet it's like they are trying to sabotage the kid.

I generally agree, it doesn't make sense to me, but it doesn't have to make sense to me because, to my dismay, Guerin is the GM and I'm not.

I think Guerin can be very stubborn and arrogant, (and I don't think it's controversial to think that) and so I can see where he wouldn't easily change his mind on a diminutive player who isn't overly aggressive on the ice, despite being a very good player otherwise. He definitely has a style he prefers. Fiala and Addison didn't fit, so he moved them, and that was disappointing.

All I'm saying is it wouldn't surprise me and I'd be very disappointed if the same happened with Rossi. I don't think it's likely he gets traded this summer, just sharing my opinion on the potential that they do look to move him, as reported by Russo.

Arrogant and stubborn is what drives a lot of his decisions. And it's a bad mix for a GM.

 

[AKL]

Guerin usually lets guys who he lets burn a year pick their numbers. I bet he takes 22. Yurov should take 91

Confirmed he took 22. I like 91 for Yurov. He's also worn 24 and 25 in the past so maybe he takes 24 when he gets here (obviously pending the 3x3 extension with full NMC that Bogosian gets this summer).

 

[Sweetnut]

Confirmed he took 22. I like 91 for Yurov. He's also worn 24 and 25 in the past so maybe he takes 24 when he gets here (obviously pending the 3x3 extension with full NMC that Bogosian gets this summer).

You mean 4x4, right?

 

[57special]

Didn’t leave that part out. I posted the whole expert. It should be notable alone that he’s group with Gustavsson and Middleton, not KK, Ek, Boldy, Faber, Brodinc, Mojo, Hartman, Zucc. But he literally said he’s not convinced Rossi isn’t traded this summer…

double negative confusion, here.

 

[JiricekSaveUs]

Confirmed he took 22. I like 91 for Yurov. He's also worn 24 and 25 in the past so maybe he takes 24 when he gets here (obviously pending the 3x3 extension with full NMC that Bogosian gets this summer).

Yeah booger is gonna have that number locked up for a while. Guerin might make Rossi hand over 23 to him tho if he wants to stay close to 22

 

[Sota Popinski]

Lots of things management does don't make sense to me. If Guerin feels like he doesn't love Rossi's game and doesn't want to pay him, he could swap him for something he does love, without it making any sense to us. He's shown a willingness to move on from younger guys because they aren't the type of player he likes, or he doesn't want to pay them what he thinks they'll get.

And given he's been playing with AHL players in fourth line minutes, combined with the idea that Guerin extended Gaudreau for 5 years and went out and drafted Stramel because they had no faith in Rossi last season, it's not a big leap to think they could still have little faith in him and try to sell "high" this summer for a piece that fits Guerin/Hynes' style of play better.

I agree with almost all of this, but I can't think of a young player that BG traded away that has come back to burn us. McBain forced his way out of here and we ended up getting a mid 2nd for him and took Haight.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

They have 1 more ELC plus another 1-2 bridge years (if necessary) to figure out if they want to commit to Rossi long-term. Absolutely no reason to be feeling "skittish" about things right now.

1 more ELC year + 2 bridge years and his he'll the first year of his hypothetical long-term deal at 26 years old. No issue there whatsoever.

 

[Sad People]

I agree with almost all of this, but I can't think of a young player that BG traded away that has come back to burn us. McBain forced his way out of here and we ended up getting a mid 2nd for him and took Haight.

God himself maybe?

 

[DigitalBoldy]

The gist of the Rossi talk was very much, "not likely to trade now (at the deadline), but could be revisisted in the summer, not convinced the Wild are ready to commit to him". I do not understand how interpreting that to mean the Wild could potentially look to move him in the summer is so offensive.

I think this team sees Yurov and Eriksson Ek as the long term solution for our top 6 centers. We are all of the opinion that Rossi would be wasted in the bottom 6, right? So the question for me is can Rossi play wing in the top 6? If he can’t, and some have speculated his game wouldn’t work as a winger, then I think it makes sense to trade him for an equivalent level player at a position of need. If he can, then we are sitting peachy on this long term:

(Kap)*-Eriksson Ek-Boldy
Rossi-Yurov-Heidt
Ohgren-Khusnutdinov-Stramel**

* = hope he re-signs long term
** = likely could be some other prospect (Kumpulainen, Bankier, etc) where they play center and Khusnutdinov plays wing.

 

[AKL]

I think this team sees Yurov and Eriksson Ek as the long term solution for our top 6 centers. We are all of the opinion that Rossi would be wasted in the bottom 6, right? So the question for me is can Rossi play wing in the top 6? If he can’t, and some have speculated his game wouldn’t work as a winger, then I think it makes sense to trade him for an equivalent level player at a position of need. If he can, then we are sitting peachy on this long term:

(Kap)*-Eriksson Ek-Boldy
Rossi-Yurov-Heidt
Ohgren-Khusnutdinov-Stramel**

* = hope he re-signs long term
** = likely could be some other prospect (Kumpulainen, Bankier, etc) where they play center and Khusnutdinov plays wing.

I don't think Rossi is wasted in a third line role in a vacuum (if Yurov can be a top six center), I specifically think he's wasted in a bottom six role on this particular roster that we have at the moment. If this was our roster in a few years I wouldn't have any problem with him in a third line role:

Kaprizov-Yurov-Boldy
Heidt-Ek-?
Ohgren-Rossi-Khusnutinov
Fourth line

That line can still be solid defensively and have the capability to chip in a bit of offense, especially with Rossi there. He'd also likely be part of a PP2 with actual scoring punch, vs what he's a part of now with Johansson, Gaudreau and Foligno.


I don't know how much Guerin plans stuff out. I think if he trades Rossi, it's not because he sees Yurov-Ek-Khusnutdinov as the center depth of the future and thus that makes Rossi expendable, I think it's because he just doesn't like Rossi and doesn't want to pay him to be here. Simple as that. The rest of it he'll figure out later.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Top 9/bottom 3 or top 3/middle 6/bottom 3.

We're a good team when we're not lumping the 3rd and 4th lines together.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

I don't think Rossi is wasted in a third line role in a vacuum (if Yurov can be a top six center), I specifically think he's wasted in a bottom six role on this particular roster that we have at the moment. If this was our roster in a few years I wouldn't have any problem with him in a third line role:

Kaprizov-Yurov-Boldy
Heidt-Ek-?
Ohgren-Rossi-Khusnutinov
Fourth line

That line can still be solid defensively and have the capability to chip in a bit of offense, especially with Rossi there. He'd also likely be part of a PP2 with actual scoring punch, vs what he's a part of now with Johansson, Gaudreau and Foligno.


I don't know how much Guerin plans stuff out. I think if he trades Rossi, it's not because he sees Yurov-Ek-Khusnutdinov as the center depth of the future and thus that makes Rossi expendable, I think it's because he just doesn't like Rossi and doesn't want to pay him to be here. Simple as that. The rest of it he'll figure out later.

What’s your indication that Guerin doesn’t like Rossi?

 

[AKL]

What’s your indication that Guerin doesn’t like Rossi?

I don't know that he doesn't like Rossi, I said if he trades Rossi it will be because he doesn't like him. And that's liking him as a player he wants to commit to on this roster, not to say Guerin doesn't like Rossi as a human off the ice.

However we know Guerin prefers bigger and grittier players, and Rossi isn't that. We know Guerin had no faith in Rossi after last year, and that was what led to the Gaudreau contract (and probably the Stramel pick). We know Rossi has drawn the short stick at times this year in terms of ice time and role. We know they wish he was more aggressive on the ice.

There's enough smoke here with Russo reporting that they're not sure if they want to commit to him, and that they could look into trading him, combined with the other things we know, to speculate on the reasons they could move him.

I don't want to trade him, I'm just responding to signals that it could happen.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

I don't know that he doesn't like Rossi, I said if he trades Rossi it will be because he doesn't like him. And that's liking him as a player he wants to commit to on this roster, not to say Guerin doesn't like Rossi as a human off the ice.

However we know Guerin prefers bigger and grittier players, and Rossi isn't that. We know Guerin had no faith in Rossi after last year, and that was what led to the Gaudreau contract (and probably the Stramel pick). We know Rossi has drawn the short stick at times this year in terms of ice time and role. We know they wish he was more aggressive on the ice.

There's enough smoke here with Russo reporting that they're not sure if they want to commit to him, and that they could look into trading him, combined with the other things we know, to speculate on the reasons they could move him.

I don't want to trade him, I'm just responding to signals that it could happen.

I think most people would prefer to have bigger/stronger players.

The lineup stuff isn't Guerin's fault. That's not his job.

I don't think Guerin is just going to trade Rossi because he's small. I 100% am of the opinion that if he were thinking of trading Rossi it would be because they have two high end quality guys who should be able to perform the job Rossi is vying for (top 6 center) and because the defense and winger positions are looking rather weak.

BTW, there's a trade board thread about Brady Tkachuk being unhappy in Ottawa. I'd pay Rossi++ for Tkachuk. That's an example of a scenario where trading Rossi actually makes sense. Rossi has ties to Ottawa from his junior days too.

 

[AKL]

I don't think Guerin is just going to trade Rossi becuause he's small. I 100% am of the opinion that if he were thinking of trading Rossi it would be because they have two high end quality guys who should be able to perform the job Rossi is vying for (top 6 center) and because the defense and winger positions are looking rather weak.

Whatever you or I think the reason may be, or whatever it ends up being, both of these can be true. If Guerin ultimately decides to trade Rossi, it will be because he doesn't like him on this roster, he wants something else instead. In that case, he can be moved for a higher end winger or another defenseman, assuming they're comfortable projecting Yurov or Khusnutdinov as the other top 6 center.

But from the perspective of, we're too deep at center now, we should move Rossi for a winger even though we like him and wish we could just keep him? No, I don't buy that. Rossi is an established middle 6 center right now with top 6 upside (to get specific, I would say he's a 2C right now). If you're going to do the whole, trade from depth to address a weakness thing, 1) you don't trade a center for a winger, you just move a center to the wing, and 2) you don't trade the one that's actually established in that role in the hopes that the other one can fill it.

In your example of Rossi for Tkachuk, it would be because Rossi doesn't fit the long term vision for what Guerin wants his players to be, and Tkachuk does. It's not because we have too many centers and need more wingers.

If Rossi fits into Guerin's long term vision for what his players should be, he won't be traded, and Guerin will address the needs in other ways as they come up. Clear examples of this include Boldy and Ek being given long term contracts off the rip. Faber will probably get one too. Fiala got a bunch of bridges and then got traded because he didn't fit Guerin's vision, Guerin didn't like him here. Addison was traded for the same reason. Guerin is very black and white in this way.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

Whatever you or I think the reason may be, or whatever it ends up being, both of these can be true. If Guerin ultimately decides to trade Rossi, it will be because he doesn't like him on this roster, he wants something else instead. In that case, he can be moved for a higher end winger or another defenseman, assuming they're comfortable projecting Yurov or Khusnutdinov as the other top 6 center.

But from the perspective of, we're too deep at center now, we should move Rossi for a winger even though we like him and wish we could just keep him? No, I don't buy that. Rossi is an established middle 6 center right now with top 6 upside (to get specific, I would say he's a 2C right now). If you're going to do the whole, trade from depth to address a weakness thing, 1) you don't trade a center for a winger, you just move a center to the wing, and 2) you don't trade the one that's actually established in that role in the hopes that the other one can fill it.

In your example of Rossi for Tkachuk, it's because Rossi doesn't fit the long term vision for what Guerin wants his players to be, and Tkachuk does. It's not because we have too many centers and need more wingers.

If Rossi fits into Guerin's long term vision for what his players should be, he won't be traded, and Guerin will address the needs in other ways as they come up. Clear examples of this include Boldy and Ek being given long term contracts off the rip. Faber will probably get one too. Fiala got a bunch of bridges and then got traded because he didn't fit Guerin's vision, Guerin didn't like him here. Addison was traded for the same reason. Guerin is very black and white in this way.

I mean, I already suggested we move Rossi to wing when Yurov arrives. I don’t want Rossi playing 3C unless our winger depth gets better and he has someone to play with that isn’t in the Foligno-esque mold.

As for trading an established player for a guy expected to fill it from the prospect pool, look no further than trading Zucker to allow room for Kaprizov. Guerin has done that before.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

If they trade Rossi for a winger or defenseman, they sure as shit better right on Yurov.

 

[AKL]

I mean, I already suggested we move Rossi to wing when Yurov arrives. I don’t want Rossi playing 3C unless our winger depth gets better and he has someone to play with that isn’t in the Foligno-esque mold.

I already illustrated how this could easily be the case in a few years. Point remains, you or anyone else projecting Yurov as a can't miss 1C is not enough of a reason to go out and trade Rossi if you otherwise like what Rossi brings. Hence why, if Rossi is traded, it will be because Guerin no longer values what he brings over what the return would bring.

It's the same logic behind why we don't trade Eriksson Ek just because we want to project Yurov as a 1C. We like Ek's game, he's important to the future of this team. If Rossi had the same level of importance, and Guerin liked his game just as much, he would be given a long term deal, and not traded, as well. If Guerin didn't like what Ek brought to the team and didn't see it fitting here long term, Ek would have been traded.

As for trading an established player for a guy expected to fill it from the prospect pool, look no further than trading Zucker to allow room for Kaprizov. Guerin has done that before.

Not really the same situation for a multitude of reasons

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I already illustrated how this could easily be the case in a few years. Point remains, you or anyone else projecting Yurov as a can't miss 1C is not enough of a reason to go out and trade Rossi if you otherwise like what Rossi brings. Hence why, if Rossi is traded, it will be because Guerin no longer values what he brings over what the return would bring.

It's the same logic behind why we don't trade Eriksson Ek just because we want to project Yurov as a 1C. We like Ek's game, he's important to the future of this team. If Rossi had the same level of importance, and Guerin liked his game just as much, he would be given a long term deal, and not traded, as well. If Guerin didn't like what Ek brought to the team and didn't see it fitting here long term, Ek would have been traded.




Not really the same situation for a multitude of reasons

And he still very well might. Look at Eriksson Ek at 22 years old.

 

[AKL]

And he still very well might. Look at Eriksson Ek at 22 years old.

I don't disagree. Personally I would not trade Rossi short of getting an absolute steal of a deal. But it's not up to me, it's up to Guerin, and again, there is enough smoke here to discuss/speculate about the possibility of something happening. That's not to say it will happen or that the speculation is true, it's to say that discussion/speculation is the point of this website.

 

[57special]

I think most people would prefer to have bigger/stronger players.

The lineup stuff isn't Guerin's fault. That's not his job.

I don't think Guerin is just going to trade Rossi because he's small. I 100% am of the opinion that if he were thinking of trading Rossi it would be because they have two high end quality guys who should be able to perform the job Rossi is vying for (top 6 center) and because the defense and winger positions are looking rather weak.

BTW, there's a trade board thread about Brady Tkachuk being unhappy in Ottawa. I'd pay Rossi++ for Tkachuk. That's an example of a scenario where trading Rossi actually makes sense. Rossi has ties to Ottawa from his junior days too.

It would be Rossi, our 1st, a dump(don't ask me who) and another good prospect like Ohgren.

Alternatively, Rossi + Wallstedt + dump(s).

Don't see it getting done from a financial aspect for us. I can see us being able to offer OTT something. They would want something like Rossi and Faber, which would be a non starter, for me, and again the $$ won't work out.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I've decided that I'm going to have faith here, that the organization isn't going to do something stupid with Rossi. Not sure why I think so, but I do.

 

[Minnewildsota]

It's the idea that it's being suggested that they may want to shop him around that is concerning.

Yes, anyone can be had for a price, but there's no real reason to shop him in trade while he is showing real potential as a center. If someone comes calling making us an offer we can't refuse, that's one thing... but that isn't what was being implied from Russo.

Moving this topic to the general discussion.


But did you read the article? But it doesn’t say that he’s being shopped or that they want to shop him. From the article:

Doubtful. He’s in the midst of a quality rookie season, and while we’re still not convinced the Wild are ready to commit to him long-term or that he won’t be traded this offseason, the trade deadline is not typically the time to trade a young asset like this.

That’s a summer move.

Rossi has another year left on his entry-level contract. That’s a bargain price to see if he can do it again.

It’s their feeling. He’s hasn’t even played 1 full season in the NHL, why would they have extended him already? They wouldn’t. Sorry, I just don’t put a lot of weight into “feelings”, which is essentially what this excerpt is.