2 Teams Showed Interest In Wild's Rossi Right Up To Extension
The Minnesota Wild finally got a contract extension done with Marco Rossi after a lot of trade speculation and the two sides not talking for a long time/wanting very different numbers. The deal was settled at three years and $5 million AAV. That is for a 23-year-old who scored 24 goals and 60 points last season while vastly improving year after year.
Rossi should be a permanent stay in the top-6 for the Wild, but there were concerns that he was going to sign a short-term, low money deal and be buried in the bottom-6, ultimately losing money on his next contract because he wouldn't have been able to succeed. But things are good for now and the Wild will remain a playoff contender with a chance for more, especially if Rossi continues to grow.
There were reportedly two teams interested in acquiring Rossi up until the extension happened, but whether they have backed off or still intend on acquiring the center with his new deals remains to be seen. James Murphy reported that he heard the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken showed interest, but now a new deal is signed.
The Canucks have the need and enough cap space to bring in Rossi if they can still strike a deal. This might be what the team really needs to show Quinn Hughes that they can win. Almost everything is going to be coming back around to trying to convince Hughes to stay, especially going for it next season and beyond.
The Kraken have been one of the most active teams this offseason and I believe that they have done a great job in improving, but could use just a little more. Seattle is hoping that their younger players take steps forward like they all did last season, but at the same time, the veterans added and who are still there need to pull their weight as well.
Trading for Rossi would be an interesting move by the Kraken though. He is a pure centerman and so is Matty Beniers as well as Shane Wright, who I think can step into the second line center role next season with how he progressed so quickly last season. The team also has Chandler Stephenson, who can play the wing, but the best assumption would be that one of the three young centers, and unlikely to be Beniers, would shift to the wing, at least for a while.
The Wild wouldn't be wise to move Rossi, but things happen and sometimes trades like that have to be made. If his name does start making the rounds again, the Canucks will surely be there and the Kraken appear to want to do as much as they can to improve.
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