It’s time for another Minnesota Wild report card, and this one everyone’s been waiting for, Marco Rossi. He was expected to have a big season after a rather disappointing one in the 2022-23 season, and he did find a way to step up. He truly got to show his style, and while he’s learning from everyone on the team, there’s one player he’s clearly modeled his game after.
That player is Joel Eriksson Ek, and Rossi has truly embraced the pesky part of Eriksson Ek’s game. Since the Wild missed out on the postseason, we’ll break down Rossi’s regular season. First, we’ll start with a rough part of his game that could use improvement, and then we will look at a strong part of his game before finally coming up with a grade for his overall performance. The rough part of his game, we’ll begin with, was his small number of hits.
Rossi Can be More Aggressive
Rossi’s biggest issue in the 2022-23′ season was his lack of confidence, which affected nearly every part of his game. He worked hard over the offseason to build his confidence and improve his overall game, and he succeeded. However, two areas of his game could still use some work. The first was his aggressiveness, which affected the second area of his game, his physicality.
He found a way to become more confident but he still lacked aggression, especially in throwing hits. He did throw 35 hits, but he played in all 82 games and even Kirill Kaprizov their scoring star, threw more hits in fewer games played. If he was more aggressive with his hits, he would’ve been able to take the puck from others more often and also keep it away.
This coming season, he’ll have to find a way to step up his aggression and not hold anything back. He already made a big improvement from his past season but he still has room for improvement, including adding in a few more blocked shots.
Rossi Stepped Up Offensively
The Wild had big expectations for Rossi when he joined the roster and while he didn’t live up to it right away, he has worked hard to come close. This past season, he made big steps toward those expectations and racked up 21 goals and 19 assists for 40 points. Those are some impressive numbers for a player who played in his first full season. He’d played just under 25 games combined in his first two seasons, but this past season, he was in for the full haul.
He’s found a favorite spot in the offensive zone, and that was in front of the net, being a pest to the opposing goaltenders, just like Eriksson Ek. He wasn’t afraid to get pushed around, and he took it just like his teammate did without retaliation. While Rossi showed that he’s improved his offensive game, he also showed that he has a talent for stealing the puck from others.
He took the puck from others 33 times and gave his team a chance to score even more. The final area that Rossi did well in was special teams, specifically the power play. While most of his points came during even strength, he had six on the power play. Hopefully he can continue to score goals this coming season and be an even bigger impact player on the roster.
Rossi’s Overall Grade
Rossi was one of the few players who actually improved this past season and like Brock Faber, wasn’t a major reason they missed the postseason. Of course, everyone, including Rossi and Faber, could’ve done better, but they were near the end of the blame list. After looking at the rough and strong parts of his game, he earned a B.
Related: Wild Report Cards for 2023-24: Marcus Johansson
That may seem low but it’s hard to award an A to anyone on the team when they missed the postseason. It’s the reason they play the game, and when they had the talent to make it, there’s room for improvement in every player, and Rossi is one of those. For those who think that’s high, he did improve his overall game and contributed 40 points. Hopefully, he can keep that side of his game going strong and score more points this next season.
