ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin is prepared to match any team’s offer sheet for restricted free agent forward Marco Rossi if one should come in.
Minnesota issued a qualifying offer to Rossi on Monday. By issuing the offer, teams are given the right of first refusal or draft choice compensation should the player sign an offer sheet with another team.
“I’m not concerned,” Guerin said Tuesday. “We’re prepared. We will match. It’s not an issue with us. I think when you’ve seen (offer sheets) in the past that have been successful, maybe the teams weren’t fully prepared for it. But yeah, we’re prepared for it.
“We’d rather make a deal with Marco.”
Rossi, 23, had 60 points (24 goals, 36 assists) in 82 games for the Wild last season and three points (two goals, one assist) in six Stanley Cup Playoff games. He largely played a top-six role until the postseason, when he was moved to the fourth line following a drop in production.
Selected by Minnesota in the first round (No. 9) of the 2020 NHL Draft, Rossi has 101 points (45 goals, 56 assists) in 185 regular-season games.
Guerin said the team and Rossi’s agents remain at odds over his contract value.
"We like Marco, he had a very good year for us,” Guerin said. “He's a good hockey player, but we have a structure in our pay that we have him slotted in at a certain level, and that's just the way we're doing our business. This is nothing personal. We want them back, and we'll hopefully get to a resolution sooner than later."
Guerin added that extending forward Kirill Kaprizov’s contract remains the No. 1 priority this offseason. The 28-year-old forward can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season, when the five-year, $45 million contract ($9 million average annual value) he signed on Sept. 21, 2021, ends.
Kaprizov can sign an eight-year contract with Minnesota as early as Tuesday. If he signs after July 1, 2026, he can only get a seven-year deal.
Kaprizov led the team with a plus-19 rating and finished second in goals (25) and third in points (56) despite playing just 41 games due to injury that sidelined him for much of the second half of the season.
Kaprizov returned on April 9 and had four points (two goals, two assists) in the final four games of the regular season and nine points (five goals, four assists) in six playoff games.
Selected by Minnesota in the fifth round (No. 135) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Kaprizov has led the Wild in points in four of his five NHL seasons and won the Calder Trophy as League’s best rookie in 2020-21. He has 386 points (15th in the NHL), and 185 goals (tied for eighth) in 319 games since entering the League.
“Hey look, I’ve always said Kirill is priority No. 1 and I’ll be talking to his agent later today,” Guerin said. “We chatted for a bit last night and we’ll just keep moving along.”
