Rossi hoping to be full-time player with Wild next season

TAMPERE, Finland -- Marco Rossi knows full well his development path with the Minnesota Wild hasn't been linear.

It's not going to deter him from his goal, though.

Rossi, the No. 9 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, has designs of graduating from the minor league level into the Wild's lineup, full-time, and soon.

"I don't want to think too much about it but you always have ups and downs," Rossi said. "That's normal. Once you make it, then you make it. Before that, there's a lot of grind to it, too. How long will it take? I don't know. I'm hoping for next year. I want to have a good summer and I want to be ready because I want to be in Minnesota.

"That's my goal."

Rossi (5-foot-9, 182 pounds) has been an explosive forward at every level he's played at.

The 21-year-old center had 120 points (39 goals, 81 assists) in 58 games with Ottawa of the Ontario Hockey League in his draft season three years ago, and has 104 points (34 goals, 70 assists) in 116 games over parts of two seasons with Iowa of the American Hockey League.

He had just one point, an assist, in 16 games after making the Wild out of camp earlier this season before he was assigned to the AHL, and did not score in three games in a late-season recall.

But his Wild teammates know the potential is there for Rossi.

"He's young, fast and skilled," Minnesota defenseman Jacob Middleton said. "He skates extremely well through the neutral zone. And for the age he is and playing in North America, he's extremely sound defensively. Most guys when they come in at a young age, they've got the offense figured out. He's got the defense figured out early. Kudos to him. I think he's going to have a great NHL career."

The defensive element has long been sorted for Rossi, who missed significant time in the 2020-21 season after complications from COVID-19.

He understands it's time to tap into that offensive potential to land with the Wild full-time.

"Defense was always really important with me because my dad was a defenseman, so it was important I played defensive," Rossi said. "Since I was a little kid, he told me that if you play better in the [defensive] zone, then you have more [offensive]-zone time and you have the puck more. I always took that really seriously. That was my mindset. I still have the same mindset about that.

"In the National Hockey League, I was really good in the [defensive] zone, but I want to be better in the [offensive] zone."

Rossi is hoping skating with Austria at the 2023 IIHF World Championship in Finland and Latvia can help aid in his development, and he's off to a good start with three assists in four games.

"One-hundred percent," said Rossi, the third-highest drafted Austria-born player in NHL history behind Thomas Vanek (No. 5 in 2003 by the Buffalo Sabres) and Marco Kasper (No. 8 in 2022 by the Detroit Red Wings).

"You're playing games against really good nations, especially top nations. A lot of NHL players like Mikko Rantanen, all these guys. You can learn a lot of things about them. It's a huge honor to play for your country. Every time I have the chance to do it, I want to take it. You play against good players, good prospects, too. It's fun to be here."

It could also be a springboard from the international stage to NHL ice.

The Wild, who were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round on April 28, have five potential unrestricted free agents and five pending restricted free agents on their roster, and could be facing a tight salary cap situation. Rossi is aware.

"I know the situation they're in right now, but I just want to be a full-time NHL player and I want to do everything that it takes to be one, to play in the NHL," Rossi said. "I just want to be ready next season from the first game on. First off, it's a huge summer coming up now. I know what I have to do to improve myself to be a full-time NHL player. I'm looking forward to that, and then I'm ready to go."

There's an added bonus to be had should Rossi find his way onto the roster.

The Wild are one of four NHL teams participating in the 2023 NHL Global Series in Sweden, a four-day, round-robin set of regular-season games in Stockholm, along with the Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs.

It's just a couple hours flight from Austria for family to come watch.

"I mean, when I heard that I was really happy," Rossi said. "It gave me more motivation, of course, to make the team because if I make the team and they're in Sweden, it's kind of a home game for me. For my family, it'll be the closest home game for them. They will all come.

"[But] I want to make the team first, then I can think about that."