Over the years, the Minnesota Wild have been well represented when it came to the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the player that shows a higher level of dedication and perseverance to the game of hockey. The trophy is actually named after a former Minnesota player, but not for the Wild. This story goes back to the days of the North Stars who the Wild based their Reverse Retro jerseys after these past couple of seasons. Masterton unfortunately passed away after receiving an injury in a game in 1968.
Obviously, over the past few seasons, before he was traded, that player for the Wild was Matt Dumba. Although he didn’t win, another Wild player by the name of Josh Harding did, and a couple of seasons later, so did Devan Dubnyk, both goaltenders who overcame some difficult things to continue to play the game. This award is one of the hardest to choose because there are so many worthy candidates. Last season, it went to Kris Letang, who’s overcome two strokes in his career and continues to play to this day.
Every team in the NHL can nominate one player, and this season for the Wild, that player is rookie Marco Rossi. This award always has some great nominees, and this season is no different; alongside Rossi, Sidney Crosby, T.J. Oshie, and Alex Pietrangelo are just a few of the many deserving players who’ve been nominated. Some may question why a rookie like Rossi is being nominated for this award, and in this article, we’ll look at why, starting with how difficult it was for him to get to the NHL.
Rossi Gets Sidelined
Rossi was selected ninth overall in the first round of the 2020 Draft by the Wild, and while he wasn’t going to come to North America just yet, his career was sidelined shortly after that. While playing with the Zurich ZSC Lions during the 2020-21 season, he caught COVID in November 2020, so he was out for a little while. Once he thought he had recovered, he returned to playing in January 2021. He skated in the World Junior Championship Under-20 division in January, but shortly after that, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, he found out he had myocarditis from his bout with COVID at the Wild’s training camp later that month, and he’d be out indefinitely to allow his body to rest (from ‘Wild’s Marco Rossi opens up about heart condition that forced him off the ice’, The Athletic, 04/27/2021).
Moreover, he was also going to try to make his NHL debut with the Wild that season, but obviously, that didn’t happen. He was out until September 2021 when he joined the Wild’s training camp.
Rossi Makes NHL
Rossi’s debut was short-lived, as he and Matt Boldy appeared in the same game on Jan. 6, 2022. After two games, Boldy found himself permanently in the lineup, while Rossi was sent back to the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League (AHL) for some time to find his game. He wasn’t horrible when he came up to the NHL, but he definitely struggled, and it was clear he needed to work on some things.
He took that to heart, put his head down, and worked hard the rest of the season, impressing many with his efforts. However, he took his commitment a step further, and this past offseason, he stayed in Minnesota rather than going home to his native Austria. He even missed his sister’s wedding to work on his game.
Rossi came to camp as a different player with more confidence and a better game overall. He was good before, but he improved everything in his game, and it paid off. He earned himself a permanent spot in the lineup this season, and he can play with almost anyone on any line. He was on the top line for a good chunk of the season, and lately, he’s been paired with Marcus Johansson and Mats Zuccarello.
Rossi Earned Nomination
After all of his hard work, Rossi has earned the nomination for the Masterton despite playing only one season in the NHL. He was dedicated to returning to the game after being sidelined for months due to myocarditis. It wasn’t easy to get back into the swing of things after such a scare. He not only did that, but when he found out he wasn’t quite ready for the NHL, he put his head down and got back to work instead of giving up.
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Rossi likes challenges, and he’s endured many of them on his path to the NHL. While he may not win the award, he definitely earned it and should be a nominee again, as he’s always improving his game. His work during the last offseason proves that, and whatever area he needs to fix this offseason, he’ll likely be working on it for months.
He’s already started to change his game as he’s slightly modeled his play after Joel Eriksson Ek. He plants himself in front of the net, and he stays there regardless of who’s shoving him around. He’s scored several goals this way, and he’ll likely continue to as his career progresses.
Rossi’s Future
Rossi may not win the award this year because of how many other worthy players there are, but regardless, he earned a nomination. As stated at the beginning, every nominated player is worthy, and picking a winner is challenging. If he doesn’t win this season, he’ll have plenty of chances over his career to be nominated again. His dedication to the game is at another level which won’t stop. Hopefully, he can find more scoring as his career goes on, but regardless, the Wild have a great player in Rossi.
