NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Marco Rossi

One burning question that will remain on the minds of Buffalo Sabres fans between now and the start of the NHL Draft on Oct. 6: Who will be available when the team selects eighth overall?
According to Dan Marr, the director of the NHL's Central Scouting Services, eighth is a pretty good place to be.
"The top eight is where you want to be if you want to get a marquee prospect," Marr said. "Not every club is going to have the same order, so they could conceivably get somebody who they have five or six on their list and they're going to be tickled pink to be able to do that.
"I know they've really been working hard preparing. They probably are going to have to get their eyes checked after watching so much video they had collected on these prospects. They're going to get a marquee NHL prospect here."

Alexis Lafreniere is the consensus favorite to be selected first overall. After him, most projections have forwards Quinton Byfield and Tim Stutzle going second and third in some order - though, as we have seen in recent years, those projections are never a guarantee.
Neither is this one. But, over the remaining days we will profile some of the candidates who might be available when the Sabres make their selection. We start today with forward Marco Rossi.
8 for 8 profiles: Jack Quinn| Cole Perfetti| Anton Lundell| Lucas Raymond| Alexander Holtz

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Marco Rossi, C - Ottawa (OHL)

5-foot-9, 183 pounds

2019-20: 56 GP, 39 G, 81 A, 120 P

Rossi has a chance to become the highest Austrian-born player selected in the NHL Draft. The current highest: Thomas Vanek, who was selected fifth overall by the Sabres in 2003.
In fact, Rossi has leaned on his countrymate since before he left for Ottawa in 2018.
"Two years ago, before I went to Canada, he called me and just said, 'I wish you good luck this season. If you need anything, just call me,'" Rossi said. "So, yeah, we always stayed in touch. Sometimes we call each other before the year or during the season."
Rossi led the OHL in points (120) and assists (81) in 56 games last season, production that will likely make him a top-10 selection come draft night. He is lauded for his complete game: a willingness to go to dirty areas on offense and responsibility on defense along with high-end skill.
Rankings by media members range from third (by The Athletic's Scott Wheeler) to ninth (The Athletic's Corey Pronman). NHL Central Scouting Services ranks Rossi sixth among North American skaters behind Lafreniere, Byfield, defensemen Jamie Drysdale and Jake Sanderson, and Saginaw center Cole Perfetti.

What they're saying:

Marr on how Rossi compares to Perfetti: "They're similar in that they don't have size, but they're both capable of being gamebreakers. Rossi's game is a little bit different. Rossi will go to the dirty areas a little more. But that's not to say that Cole won't go to the dirty areas. It's the way that they read the play and they're able to get their opportunities and chances. Cole can do it in a real cerebral way. I think Marco tends to get more involved in the action on the play. But they both end up delivering the same results. They're both smart, high-end, skilled players."
Fellow top prospect and Ottawa teammate Jack Quinn: "He's a great passer. So, you know, I would try to get open and he definitely set me up for a lot of goals. I think it was also great to have him on the team to push me and stuff. He was a great guy to try to battle with and I think we pushed each other."
Quinn on Rossi's offseason training videos (below): "That's pretty crazy stuff."

What he's saying

Rossi on why he could play in the NHL next season: "I think it's my complete game, playing like a 200-foot game. … My playmaking ability, my smartness, my hockey IQ."
Rossi on why he's good in the offensive zone: "I think it was when I was really young, when I started to play hockey, my dad always told me try to always have your head up, try to be a good playmaker, try to be a good passer, and there was always a difference I would say to other parents because when you're really young, the other parents are always saying, 'Try and score and we'll go to a restaurant' or something like that so they try to score every time.
"My dad just told me to always have my head up, think a lot and just try to help your teammates and be a good teammate. I always tried that, so I think that's why I'm that good in the offensive zone."
Rossi on who he watches in the NHL: "It was Pavel Datsyuk but right now it's Brayden Point. Just like playing so smart, he's like the same size as me and just the way he's playing right now in the playoffs is so crazy. I really love to see how he's playing. He's not afraid and he's a really good playmaker, a good shooter and he just makes the team better."

Watch this

Check out Rossi's three-goal, three-assist effort against Kingston from this past season. (He is No. 23 in red.) Rossi picks the corner form the top of the circle for his first goal, begins and ends a tight give-and-go play for his second, and fends off a defender at the net front to complete the hat trick.
He also makes a backhand pass through traffic to set up teammate Austen Keating for a hat trick goal around the 2:25 mark.