While an enormous contract extension for Kirill Kaprizov looms on the horizon in the summer of 2026, the Minnesota Wild are poised to enter the 2025 offseason with much more room and flexibility than in years past after a difficult 2024-25 season. The infamous Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts will only cost $1.6 million against the cap next season following two-straight seasons in which the pair’s dead cap collectively consumed $14.7 million of the Wild’s salary, and three straight seasons of $12 million or more.
Wild general manager (GM) Bill Guerin currently has $78.9 million committed to 10 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies in 2025-26, giving them around $16.6 million to fill out the rest of the forward group. 34-year-old Marcus Johansson and 35-year-old Gustav Nyqvist their only notable unrestricted free agents this summer, and neither should command too high of a price at this stage of their careers if there is mutual interest in a return.
The Wild’s most significant decision of the 2025 offseason revolves around Austrian center Marco Rossi, a restricted free agent (RFA) this offseason who will be 24 by the time the 2025-26 season begins. Rossi tallied an impressive 24 goals and 60 points in 82 games despite star winger Kaprizov (56 points in 41 games) missing half of the season. Where the issue arises for the front office is the playoffs where the young pivot only posted three points in six games and was relegated to the fourth line during the Wild’s first-round defeat at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. There are questions about his size (5-foot-9) and whether he is suited for the center position at the NHL level, putting his future in Minnesota in doubt.
While Rossi is likely to have plenty of suitors, the Colorado Avalanche should push hard to secure his services. Huge swings at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline saw GM Chris MacFarland bring in Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle to solidify the center position behind Nathan MacKinnon, but neither player performed well relative to their acquisition cost as the Avalanche fell to the Dallas Stars in the second round.
An inconsistent source reported there being mutual interest in Nelson’s return amid speculation the soon-to-be 34-year-old would likely hit the open market. The free-agent market for centers is very slim this offseason, so a potential Nelson departure would create a familiar hole at second-line center for the Avalanche, one they’ve unsuccessfully been trying to fill since Nazem Kadri signed with the Calgary Flames during the 2022 offseason.
Avalanche Staring Down Cap Crunch in 2025 Offseason
The only issue is that the Avalanche are facing a major cap crunch this summer with nearly $87 million already committed to 11 forwards, five defensemen, and two goalies for next season. The organization will enter the offseason with a projected $8.7 million in cap room with Nelson, Jonathan Drouin, Joel Kiviranta, Ryan Lindgren, and Sam Malinski as the notable names left unsigned.
While it’s entirely possible that MacFarland allows most, if not all, of those players to walk in free agency and create cap space that way, several significant trades may need to be executed if the Avalanche are to address the issue at center. Coyle ($5.25 million), Samuel Girard ($5 million), Josh Manson ($4.5 million), Ross Colton ($4 million), and Miles Wood ($2.5 million) are five players collectively making over $20 million against the cap, and all struggled in the playoffs to varying degrees. While trading any of those players would create holes elsewhere in the lineup, the argument for this course of action should be that addressing the second-line center role should be the main priority and that the gaps can be filled in with cost-effective options in free agency.
This brings us back to Rossi and his contract dilemma in Minnesota. As an RFA, the Wild retain control of his rights if they issue him a qualifying offer before July 1. This would allow them to either match any potential offer sheet or collect draft pick compensation from the poaching team if they decide to not bring him back.
The Avalanche are ill-equipped to go down the offer-sheet route as they’ve emptied out the cupboards while chasing another Stanley Cup. Colorado has no picks through the first three rounds of both the 2025 and 2026 drafts, which makes snaring Rossi with an offer sheet impossible.
The Avalanche do have their own first- and second-round picks in 2027 and beyond, and those could form part of the package sent to Minnesota for Rossi’s rights. One of the aforementioned Avalanche players would also have to be included in the trade as a salary makeweight given the team’s lack of cap space, Rossi’s contract projections, and the Wild’s desire to be competitive next season. Someone like Colton could give Minnesota a player capable of playing center, four consecutive seasons of 16 goals or more, and one with ample playoff experience (won the Stanley Cup in 2021 and lost in the Final in 2022).
The team at AFP Analytics predicts Rossi’s next contract as most likely being either a two-year bridge deal carrying an annual cap hit of $4.55 million, or a seven-year deal worth $7.39 million annually. A contract with term somewhere in the middle should come in at around $5 to $6 million. The Avalanche could fit that in especially if Colton goes the other way, but it may make Nelson redundant and send him looking elsewhere in free agency.
Assuming Colton is traded, Rossi signs a six-year contract with the Avalanche worth $6.5 million annually, Malinski extends at two years for $1.8 million, and Ivan Ivan is promoted, the lineup below gives the team $4 million of cap space.
Having $4 million of cap room is a manageable figure even while accounting for carrying an extra skater or two, but the front office may look to clear even more space with the aforementioned trade candidates and drastically re-shape the blue line.
Rossi a Great Fit for Avalanche at Second-Line Center
While Rossi’s physical profile and lack of high-end foot speed might furrow some brows in Colorado given the typical tenacity found in the Western Conference playoff bracket, those weaknesses shouldn’t overshadow his strengths. He is willing to do the defensive work and could easily be insulated with two physical, defensively responsible wingers in Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin.
Rossi has experience playing with star wingers in Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, and has posted positive shot and chance differentials at five-on-five in a top-six role across both of his two full NHL seasons. One poor playoff outing shouldn’t define a player, and the sophomore could blossom under different circumstances.
The lack of options in free agency and the team’s dearth of draft picks makes a potential fling with Rossi more dire as one can only take so many more swings before the tradeable assets run out. The Avalanche front office has to be bold, but careful. The rest of the MacKinnon and Cale Makar era depends on it.
