With the NHL offseason now officially in full swing, the pressing needs facing Wild GM Bill Guerin have taken on a new level of urgency. The draft takes place June 27-28, with free agency opening just three days later.
Center Marco Rossi has been the focus of increased speculation about his future as he becomes a restricted free agent. The team and player are reportedly not close to an agreement on a new deal. That has put Rossi in the shop window as the Wild look to improve their roster.
Unfortunately, it appears the outside interest in Rossi hasn't necessarily come to fruition as Guerin looks to put together a trade for the winger.
"From talking to a lot of GMs this week... it just feels that (future picks) are still what the Wild are being offered. That's something that's going to create a bit of an issue, if that's it for the Wild," said The Athletic's Michael Russo on his latest Worst Seats in the House podcast.
"(Bill Guerin) has made it extremely clear if he's going to delete anybody off this roster, whether it's Rossi or anybody else, that he doesn't want to make the team worse. And if you're trading Marco Rossi, you can't just assume Danila Yurov in his first year, at 21 years old, is going to be able to replace him."
Russo later stated that he thinks it's "more likely than not" that Rossi is traded this offseason. As for where he could be shipped to, it's still unclear.
"Montreal badly needs a No. 2 center, they have shown, as far as I know, no interest. Calgary is looking to add a center, they have so far been very lukewarm on him, as far as I know. Carolina, I think, is one team that has shown to be interested. Vancouver has interest, but the Wild don't seem to have interest in their players," continued Russo. "Utah has always had interest but I think they feel they're already small enough. Buffalo doesn't seem (to have interest)."
When it comes to who Minnesota are looking at this offseason, Russo reported that the Wild "are in on" Buffalo Sabres winger J.J. Peterka.
Like Rossi, Peterka is coming off a career year, scoring 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) as he enters the offseason as a restricted free agent. The problem for the Wild in that particular move is that Peterka is a winger, a position they are already deep at.
According to PuckPedia, the Wild enter the offseason with around $15.79 million in available cap space. That puts them around the middle of the league in a year where there are not a lot of top tier free agents and plenty of teams with money to spend. With that reality in front of them, Minnesota may increasingly look to the trade market to improve their roster as they aim to compete over the next handful of seasons.
If the Wild do look to trade someone other than Rossi, they may look to use some of their young prospects as trade bait. Russo reported that teams have been calling and asking about several of the Wild's coveted prospects.
"The one guy who I am hearing is being asked about a lot is Liam Öhgren," said Russo. "They don't have a first-round pick this year. I don't think they'd love to trade their first-round pick next year. If you're going to add pieces to this team, and it's going to go the trade route, you're going to have to give up prospects most likely. I think Liam is probably one of those people that is an option to go. I think teams are asking about (Jesper) Wallstedt. I don't think the Wild have any interest in giving him up."
Öhgren was the team's first-round selection in the 2022 draft. He has appeared in just nine NHL games since being taken with the No. 19 pick, scoring seven points (three goals and four assists). The 21-year-old Swedish winger could prove a valuable asset on the trade market.
Minnesota has viewed Wallstedt as the future of their goaltender position since taking him with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2021 draft. Now that Marc-Andre Fluery is officially retired, Wallstedt could potentially be in line for more games in the very near future.
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