A lot can happen in a span of a week, and that goes for Marco Rossi news as well. A week ago, The Athletic’s Michael Russo, on his podcast Worst Seats in the House, which he hosts with the Minnesota Wild’s play-by-play announcer on FanDuel, Anthony Lapanta, said there was no news in terms of a Wild deal with Rossi. However, fast forward to their newest podcast that came out Thursday, August 21, and they reported that the Wild were close to signing Rossi to a bridge deal. Then the very next day, Rossi signed a three-year deal worth $15 million.
For those unfamiliar, a bridge deal usually means a short-term contract that “bridges” a player’s rookie contract and a potential big long-term deal. This kind of deal is risky for both sides, but can also prove to be a reward for both sides. If the player doesn’t pan out, the team isn’t in too deep, but if the player does pan out, the player can then demand more money at the end of their contract. The Wild did, in fact, go this route, and in this article, we’ll look at why this is a good way to go for both Rossi and the team.
Rossi has the Talent
It’s clear that Marco Rossi has the talent to be a top-six player; he was used in that position all of last season, with the exception of the postseason. Rossi has continued to improve every season he’s played. His very first season, he played 19 games and had one point. The next season, he played in all 82 games and had 40 points, which brings us to this past season, where he once again played in all 82 games but had 60 points.
However, this is one of the more crucial times in his career when he will either continue to improve or hit his peak. Many players have gone one way or the other, and the Wild have experienced both. They’ve had players who looked great in their first couple of seasons only to slump after like James Sheppard for example, or not even make it past the first season but they’ve also had a players like Kirill Kaprizov who’ve only gotten better.
The Wild have clearly seen what Rossi can do and what they hope he can continue to do, and according to Russo, they offered him a five-year deal worth $5 million a year earlier this year. Honestly, that’s a very decent deal; it’s a decent number of years for a decent amount of money, but he turned it down.
Of course, Rossi has that right, and he has the right to fight for what he believes he’s worth; however, the team also has the right to deny the his asks, too. Rossi didn’t have arbitration, so ultimately, they had to come to an agreement on their own. That agreement ended up being almost the exact same offer the Wild did earlier this year, just shorter term. The exact details of the first offer haven’t been shared, but the one Rossi signed will have his money staggered. He’ll make $4 million the first year, $5 million the second, and $6 million in the final year for a total of $15 million over the span of three years.
This deal will give the Wild the chance to see if Rossi can keep heading in the right direction, but it also didn’t break the bank, which will be discussed later. This deal will give Rossi the chance to prove himself while also making a decent amount of money in a short deal, and give him the shot to ask for an even higher dollar amount when the contract ends and the salary cap has gone up, hopefully giving the Wild more room to give him what he wants.
Rossi & Wild Agree Short-Term
Some fans may not like the idea of Rossi not getting a long-term deal, but a short-term deal was the best idea at the time. If he truly wants to be here in three years when his deal is up, he’ll re-sign and stay, but it also gives him the chance to leave if he wants to at the end of those years. However, it also gives the team the option to move on as we discussed above.
Rossi was hoping to get a higher value for a longer term to secure his future, but it was a bit higher than the Wild wanted to go. He then tested to see if any other team would send an offer sheet; both Russo and Lapanta stated on their podcast that they didn’t know for sure if any team extended an offer sheet, but it didn’t appear that any team had.
The Wild were left with most of the “leverage” Russo pointed out because if a team had been willing to sign Rossi that high, then the Wild would’ve been stuck trying to figure out their options. However, with no other teams appearing to offer anything at all in terms of an offer sheet the Wild didn’t have to decide to match or not. It was known some team’s had offered to trade for Rossi but clearly those deals didn’t work either. Again, while some may think this was a mistake, it’s the best of both worlds for right now. It may not look great in three years for one side or the other, but for now, it was the right move.
Wild Have Other Players to Sign
$7 million a year for seven years doesn’t seem like that horrible of a deal, but with so much unknown for Rossi yet, it wasn’t something the Wild were willing to jump into. It would’ve put him higher than Joel Eriksson Ek and equal to Matt Boldy. While Boldy and Rossi are both high-caliber players, Rossi’s game is a lot closer to Eriksson Ek also a high-caliber player who will be up for a new contract a year after Rossi’s new deal ends. Looking at the two players, Boldy is the shooter, while Rossi follows Eriksson Ek’s style which is being a pest in front of the net.
The important thing to remember is that the Wild do have other players yet to sign to rather big contracts as well as their up and coming young talent who will need contracts in the not too distant future. Russo expects Kaprizov to sign soon for at least $14-15 million, he’s stated many times throughout the offseason. Everyone knows the team is pushing to sign Kaprizov, but what some may be forgetting is that the Wild will have to sign Filip Gustavsson, too. Russo made the very important point that Gustavsson will likely be asking for the range of what a number one goalie makes.
Related: Wild Not Signing Marco Rossi to Long-Term Contract Would Be a Mistake
If Gustavsson has another strong season and the Wild want to keep him around, which is likely, he’ll be asking for quite a bit more than he currently is making. His past deal was very team-friendly, a three-year deal at $3.7 million. He’ll likely want at least $5-6 million per year for possibly a long-term deal after looking at what other number one goaltenders are currently at for market value on Puckpedia, and that’s likely shooting very low, but it all depends on how he does this next season and how Jesper Wallstedt does as well.
Plus while the Wild would’ve likely had some roster space if they went with the deal Rossi wanted originally plus Kaprizov, it would’ve left little room for Gustavsson and any injuries the Wild may run into if they need to bring others up. The Wild clearly don’t want to walk the cap line like they did this past season, and no one can blame them, so signing Rossi to less also keeps some extra money available.
Time Will Tell
Now that Rossi is signed, only time will tell if this truly turns out to be a good deal, which it likely will, or if it’ll go the other way. Outside of the reasons already stated on why this deal was a good one, the timing is great as well because Rossi won’t miss training camp. Now everyone can focus on Kaprizov’s deal, which will hopefully come sometime soon, and the Wild will be set until this next season when they start talking to Gustavsson and anyone else they want to extend.
