Bruins
Marco Rossi is coming off a 60-point season in his second pro campaign.
If the Bruins intend on opening up another contention window while the likes of David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy are in their primes, one thing is a given.
Boston needs some game-changers down the middle.
It should come as little surprise that the two teams still playing this NHL season — the Oilers and Panthers — both feature elite talent at the center position.
Be it Edmonton boasting two generational talents in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl or Florida featuring a center corps of Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, and Anton Lundell — the fortunes of any franchise are immediately elevated whenever a roster can be built around a foundation of impact pivots.
In regards to the Bruins, the 2025-26 squad — at least as currently constituted — is not lacking in terms of quantity of centers available.
But it remains to be seen just how players down the middle are capable of truly moving the needle for this retooling franchise.
Boston currently has Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt, and Pavel Zacha as tangible center options in place — as well as two younger players potentially set for greater roles in Matt Poitras and Fraser Minten.
The options are abundant, but the upside remains in question with this current personnel.
The No. 7 pick in the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft offers hope that the Bruins can add a potential top-six stalwart into their system — especially a young pivot like Jake O’Brien, Brady Martin, Roger McQueen, and others.
But as Boston waits for that blue-chip prospect to marinate, are there any other centers available who can help the Bruins both in 2025-26 and in the years ahead?
Even with over $26 million in available cap space, the Bruins shouldn’t necessarily allocate those funds toward a lackluster group of free-agent centers.
Bennett is a proven playoff performer and the type of on-ice antagonist that would be beloved in a black-and-gold sweater.
But Bennett is also the type of player that a team already in the midst of their contention window adds to put their grouping over the top.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs want to augment their DNA and hand Bennett $9 million or more per year to add some sandpaper to their lineup and complement the likes of Auston Matthews and William Nylander? Sure.
But such a sizable contract will only end up disheartening Bruins fans if Bennett — he with just one 50-point season on his resume — is brought in with the assumption of being a second-line driver for the next seven seasons.
Barring the Bruins opting to kick the center conversation down the road to next summer (when the likes of Jack Eichel are set to hit the open market), Boston’s best bet toward upgrading their center position this summer lies in the trade market.
And it hasn’t taken very long for one intriguing name to already hear his name in trade whispers.
According to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, teams have already started calling Minnesota about 23-year-old center Marco Rossi amid the player’s ongoing contractual impasse with the Wild.
“Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said Sunday he’s not “dying” to trade the 23-year-old center,” Russo wrote. “That doesn’t mean he won’t, of course.
“Guerin made clear during a conversation with The Athletic that there’s a certain price point he’s willing to go to in contract talks with Rossi — and, so far, Rossi’s ask has been significantly higher. The Wild have made two contract offers — five years, $25 million in the winter, per league sources, and a shorter-term offer last week.”
Rossi, a pending restricted free agent, is reportedly seeking a seven-year contract that could pay him $7 million per season — per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
The Fourth Period also noted that if the Wild do entertain offers for Rossi — especially if they can’t bridge the gap on a contract — the Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers are “ believed to have varying degrees of interest” in the Austrian-born center.
Rossi may not be a top-line center, but he’s a younger forward still a ways away from his prime who could already step in as Boston’s 2C in 2025-26.
The ninth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Rossi followed up a rookie season where he scored 21 goals and 40 points in 2023-24 with a 60-point showing (24 goals, 36 assists) this past season.
A 23-year-old center who has already hit the 60-point mark would seemingly be the type of player that the Wild would want to keep.
But Rossi’s value — both with Minnesota and perhaps across the NHL — may not be as high as some think.
Despite finishing second on the Wild in scoring this season, Rossi ended up on the fourth line during the playoffs with Minnesota — earning the third-lowest average ice time per game among Wild forwards at 11:08.
Those postseason struggles, coupled with the fact that Rossi is far from the most imposing figure at 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, might give pause to teams who question whether or not Rossi is the type of top-six talent you can entrench on a winning team for the next five-plus seasons.
Still, Rossi’s size hasn’t necessarily impacted his ability to fight inside for high-danger shots.
According to NHL Edge tracking data, Rossi feasted in interior ice this past season, with 18 of his 24 goals coming in high-danger areas — which ranked in the 94th percentile of all NHLers. His 67 shots on goal from high-danger ice also ranks in the 92nd percentile.
Rossi is far from the perfect player, with his profile in particular likely drawing the ire of Bruins fans who welcome heft and snarl for their forward corps.
Granted, the Bruins’ offseason efforts to build a roster with said identity ended up being far too slow to keep up with the top teams in the league — and ill-equipped to both generate offensive chances and capitalize on those Grade-A looks.
If the Wild are listening to offers on Rossi, the Bruins — beyond coughing up their 2025 first-round pick — would be wise to make a pitch in hopes of adding a skilled playmaker to their new crop of key contributors.
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