Wild 2024-25 Report Cards: Marco Rossi

Now that the draft and free agency have come and gone for the most part, there will still be some signings happening, but it’s time to dive into some more offseason items. The Minnesota Wild report cards took a small pause for all the festivities this past week and a half, but they’re back, and we’ll continue with forward Marco Rossi. He’s been making headlines for the past few weeks as he’s been mentioned in nearly every team’s trade rumors, and now the Wild have made him an offer sheet. 

It’ll be interesting to see where this goes from here. At first, it seemed like the Wild were ready to let him go, and they might still be, but for now, we’ll focus on his past performance with the team and wait to see what happens in the future. In this article, we’ll look at what he did in the regular season and the playoffs to come up with an overall grade for him, starting with the regular season. 

Rossi Exceeds Expectations

He had a rough start in the NHL, but this past season he truly showed what he’s capable of and was an integral part of the roster, especially after all the injury issues they faced. Rossi bounced all over the lineup but spent quite a bit of time on the first and second lines, depending on who was playing that night. Through it all, he found ways to adapt to whichever line he was on and produced throughout the season. 

He was one of the few players who stayed healthy all season and played in all 82 games. He registered 24 goals plus 36 assists for 60 points and only accumulated 26 penalty minutes. He was more aggressive, and his game style has become very similar to Joel Eriksson Ek. He’s a pest in front of the net, and that’s where many of his goals came from. 

While he contributed on the offensive side, he didn’t forget his defensive priorities. He threw 62 hits but also had 41 blocked shots, which is also like Eriksson Ek’s game. However, an area that Rossi needs to improve is his 60 turnovers, but only 18 takeaways. He has to get a bit better at handling the puck and not allowing it to get taken away as much. Hopefully, as he continues to play and improve, that part of his game will as well. 

Rossi’s Rough Playoffs

The regular season went well for Rossi, but the postseason was a different story. The Wild as a whole had a good run in the playoffs despite the difficult early ending, but his postseason wasn’t the same. He started out on the top line, but by the end, he was spending games on the fourth line. 

He played in all six games, and he scored two goals, plus he assisted on one for three points. Both of his goals came while he was on the fourth line, and he actually found a way to elevate the play of that line. It may have been a demotion to him, but he showed he can truly play on any line and make them better. They didn’t have a huge impact on the lineup, but with Rossi on the fourth line, they contributed more than they normally would’ve. 

As far as the defensive side, he had seven hits and three blocked shots. He did do better in the turnover area as he had just two giveaways but zero takeaways, still an area that needs improvement. Hopefully, if he stays with the Wild this upcoming season, he can fix this area in the playoffs as well. 

Rossi’s Overall Grade

Now that we’ve looked at both his regular and postseason performance, it’s time to come up with a grade. He set a new career record in both goals and assists, which led to his new high in points. He also didn’t forget about his defense, which means he earned an A. It may seem high, but keep in mind this is only for the regular season portion, and he exceeded almost every expectation. It’s also not slightly higher because he did have a lot of turnovers. 

When looking back at his postseason, his grade is lower. He earned a C+, and while that may seem high, he did get the fourth line to produce when they had struggled during the regular season. It may seem low, but he didn’t have the greatest attitude, and while it’s understandable after getting demoted, the team winning should come first, and the attitude needs to come with it. 

After combining those two grades, his overall grade for the season is a high B+. That may seem high, but he did have a great regular season, although his postseason did drop it down. As far as why it’s not higher, he does have areas to continue to work on, but they are fixable. Hopefully, he’ll be able to improve some of these skills before next season rolls around.