Could the Pens add to their young talent with a skilled center?
The Penguins have sought NHL ready young players who can add skill to the lineup. It’s usually been small swings, like adding Philip Tomasino for a mid-round pick or swapping prospects of similar value to add Rutger McGroarty for Brayden Yager.
If Pittsburgh wants to step it up and take a big swing, the situation in Minnesota with Marco Rossi.
Marco Rossi’s uncertain future with the Minnesota Wild has NHL teams buzzing ahead of the Draft Combine. Flyers, Sabres, Penguins among those interested. Details here!https://t.co/yViwSL2hya
— RG (@TheRGMedia) May 28, 2025
From rg.org:
Based on conversations with numerous NHL sources, the Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Seattle Kraken have all expressed interest in acquiring Rossi.
“For whatever reason—I think maybe he just doesn’t fit the Guerin mold—there doesn’t seem to be a fit there in Minnesota,” another NHL source told RG. “Whatever it is, there’s a market for him right now. I think some teams see him as a real middle-six guy with a lot of upside. He may not be as physical as you’d like, but the skill is there.”
With his recent performance, it’s anticipated that Rossi will aim for a new contract worth at least $3 million annually. After Minnesota’s playoff elimination by the Vegas Golden Knights, Rossi expressed uncertainty about his future with the Wild.
“I don’t know; we’ll see,” Rossi told reporters last month.
Wild GM Bill Guerin likely won’t delay addressing Rossi’s future, given the looming July 1 deadline.
“I think Billy doesn’t want to let it slide until July 1 when he can’t dictate the terms as much,” the NHL executive added. “He’s probably not coming back, so why let it reach the point of an offer sheet possibility? Usually, the draft creates pressure for deals, and with everyone in person next week, I think that really changes things.”
Rossi, 23, had a breakout season in 2024-25 in which he scored 24 goals and recorded 60 points. Despite that great statistical output, Rossi started out on the Wild’s third line in the playoffs and it wasn’t long before he was demoted to the fourth line in an unsettling time that was naturally very disappointing to the player. Rossi averaged just over 11 minutes per game in the playoffs. Now a pending restricted free agent, there’s a lot of smoke about Rossi’s frustrations with how Minnesota minimized him after a great season. For the Wild’s part, they have to decide if a smallish player they were worried couldn’t hang is worth re-signing or moving on from.
The Penguins will join an unsurprising long list of teams that will surely be interested in picking up a talented young player and seeing what he can do for them. Pittsburgh’s promising, young pool of players at the center position is virtually non-existent and would be something that Rossi could immediately address.
Former Penguin Bill Guerin does have reason to be motivated to get a resolution, letting Rossi sit out as a restricted free agent in a world where offer sheets are becoming more common could force him into uncomfortable areas.
It remains to be seen what Guerin would want from Pittsburgh — although just from the surface McGroarty encompasses just about every single thing someone like Guerin would like (we’ll see if he has the goal scoring touch of ol’ Billy G, but come to think of it in a lot of ways McGroarty is pretty darn similar to a modern day version of a Bill Guerin type of player of an American power forward with a gregarious personality and a high compete level). The Pens also possess the 11th overall pick in the upcoming draft as another valuable potential trading chip.