Rossi, 19, spent the 2019-20 season with the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), totaling 120 points (39-81=120) in 56 games. He led the OHL and all players in the Canadian Hockey League (OHL, QMJHL, WHL) in assists and points. The 5-foot-9, 183-pound native of Feldkirch, Austria, was named the OHL's Most Outstanding Player of the Year, just the second European import player to win the award and was named to the OHL First Team All-Star. He led Ottawa in plus/minus rating (plus-69) and power-play assists (31), second in goals, third in shots (193) and fifth in power-play goals (7) and game-winning goals (5). The left-shot center becomes the fifth Austrian-born player selected in the first round, joining former Wild player Thomas Vanek (No. 5, 2003), Michael Grabner (No. 14, 2006), Andre Burakovsky (No. 23, 2013) and Marko Dano (No. 27, 2013).
"Marco is a two-way center with incredible vision, skill and compete level," said Judd Brackett, Minnesota Wild Director of Amateur Scouting. "We are very excited to add his playmaking ability to our organization."
The forward entered tonight's draft ranking No. 6 on the NHL Central Scouting's list of North American Skaters. He recorded 65 points (29-36=65) in 53 games with Ottawa in 2018-19 and ranked second amongst OHL rookies in scoring. He totaled 58 points (25-33=58) in 43 career games with GCK Zurich (Swiss-Jr.) over two seasons (2016-2018) and represented Austria at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2018 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. His father, Michael Rossi, was a defenseman who played 20 seasons of professional hockey in Austria from 1992-2011.
Minnesota currently owns five selections in rounds 2-7 in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which starts tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. CT on the NHL Network: #39 in the second round, #101 in the fourth round, #132 in the fifth round, #163 in the sixth round, and #194 in the seventh round.
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