If the Philadelphia Flyers are still assessing the trade market for their highly coveted top-six center, they will be privy to the fact that Marco Rossi is increasingly likely to be traded by the Minnesota Wild this summer.
But how has this dream scenario become a reality for the Flyers?
Rossi, 23, is a pending restricted free agent this summer, likely to command a big raise on the three-year entry-level contract that carried a total value of $2.59 million.
And despite his breakout 24-goal, 60-point campaign, the Wild eventually demoted Rossi to fourth line in the six-game first-round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup playoffs, then publicly declared a search to find help for their No. 1 center, Joel Eriksson-Ek.
“We’ll see what happens. There’s contract talks. There’s player movement — not just for Marco; for anybody," Wild GM Bill Guerin was quoted as saying of Rossi by The Athletic. "I’m not going to try to predict the future where I see this, I see that. I have to go through the process and see where it goes.”
As for Rossi? He's steadfast in his belief in himself, even if he knows he can't fully push back on Guerin or head coach John Hynes. That can be a slippery slope, even for the most even-keeled.
“As a player, you don’t always have to understand some decisions, but it’s important to respect those decisions," Rossi was quoted as saying by The Athletic. "I’ve showed all year long how good I am (...) And anyone who knows me, it’s always going up and I always improve, and especially with my work ethic. So I’ve no doubt, I’m for sure a top-six guy.”
And a top-six guy, like Rossi, is exactly what the Flyers need.
Jett Luchanko, the Flyers' 2024 first-round pick, is still just 18 years old. The Flyers could also use one of their 2025 first-round picks, sixth overall, to add another blue-chip center prospect.
At the same time, though, it is not realistic to expect Luchanko or any other prospects to play savior, jump into an NHL lineup in their teenage years, and begin producing at a high level.
Rossi, in his first year in the NHL in 2022-23, had an assist in 19 games. That was it.
And that leaves the Flyers in the predicament they're in.
They have Luchanko and they added the enigmatic 22-year-old college standout Karsen Dorwart, but the NHL center depth is currently constituted by Sean Couturier, Ryan Poehling, and Noah Cates. Beyond them is a total mystery, be it Luchanko, Dorwart, or someone else.
Completing a highly anticipated trade for a young player of Rossi's caliber instantly supercharges this motley crew of centers and gives the Flyers and immediate running mate down the middle for Matvei Michkov--someone who can genuinely think and creatively play the game on Michkov's level.
But, to get, you have to give. The Wild won't be giving Rossi away for free, even if their trade leverage seems frayed in the public sphere.
The Flyers have an overabundance of wingers and draft picks they can offer the Wild in exchange for the 5-foot-9 pivot.
One of three Flyers first-round picks in 2025 originally belonged to the Colorado Avalanche, who were dispatched in the first round of the playoffs by the Dallas Stars. A draft pick in the low 20s is good starting place.
Beyond that, Cates and Tyson Foerster are two top-nine caliber players who are pending restricted free agents this summer, like Rossi. Cates, 26, is a center and a Minnesota native, but plays a different style and has a different skillset than Rossi.
Another name to consider is the uber-talented Owen Tippett, who just had the least productive season (43 points, 20 goals) of his full-time NHL career while playing on the first year of the eight-year, $49.6 million contract he signed with the Flyers on Jan. 26, 2024.
Tippett, 26, will have a 10-team no-trade list kick in ahead of the 2026-27 season, so the Flyers will be hard-pressed to trade him then if things don't start to trend upwards. It is something they will have to consider.
Veteran Wild wingers Gustav Nyquist, Marcus Johansson, and Justin Brazeau will all be free agents this summer, and the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyout charges will drop from $7.371 million each to just $833k each.
In short, Minnesota is going to be in the hunt for younger, talented wingers, and they will finally have the funds to support their ambitions.
A trade between the Flyers and the Wild seems like a dream scenario for both sides, but only time will tell if the price is right for Marco Rossi.
