Wild’s Marco Rossi admittedly uncertain over future after up-and-down season

Marco Rossi started the season as the Wild‘s top center and finished it as a fourth-liner, a change in responsibilities that has the 23-year-old forward unsure of what his role with the team is going into the future.

“I don’t know,” Rossi said. “We’ll see.”

Rossi addressed his situation Sunday at Xcel Energy Center, where the Wild debriefed after being eliminated from the playoffs Thursday by Vegas in six games.

He called his meeting a “good talk” with both sides being honest.

After being one of only three Wild players to appear in all 82 games, a run in which he centered Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello early on before injuries forced the Wild to juggle their lineup, Rossi set career highs in goals (24), assists (36) and points (60) as a top-six forward — which is what Rossi considers himself.

“Anyone who knows me, it’s always going up,” he said, “and I always improve and especially with my work ethic. So, I’ve no doubt.”

But when the playoffs began, Rossi was on the third line before getting shifted to the fourth. Rossi was disappointed by the demotion but said that he has to respect it. After the switch, he scored twice, in Games 3 and 4, during his first Stanley Cup playoffs.

“He’s got some real bright years coming,” Zuccarello said, “and he’s going to be a huge part of this team or whatever team he’s going to be [on] in the future.”

The ninth overall pick in 2020 by the Wild, Rossi is up for a new contract this summer as a restricted free agent, meaning the Wild hold his rights, and he wants to stay with the team.

“My agents are dealing with [it],” Rossi said. “It’s out of my control now. So, my focus is to play hockey.”

Asked about the potential of a trade, Rossi said, “I’m not thinking about that right now,” and added that he’s still processing the team’s playoff exit.

“After that, I’m gonna rest now,” Rossi continued, “and I’m gonna have a clear mind, and then you will think about those stuff.”

The Wild appeared to be on their way to winning Game 5 against Vegas and taking a 3-2 series lead when Ryan Hartman scored on a 2-on-1 breakaway with Gustav Nyquist with 1:15 left in the third period. Instead, after Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy challenged the play for offsides, a video review showed that both of Nyquist’s skates entered the Vegas zone before the puck, wiping out the go-ahead goal.

On Sunday, Nyquist accepted blame for the error and called the play “unfortunate.”

“At the end of the day, it’s on me to stay onside there,” Nyquist said. “And from my view, there’s a guy [Vegas’ Ivan Barbashev] in between, and I can’t really see the puck. And I was a thousand percent sure it was over the line, obviously, and it wasn’t."

Nyquist added that the linesman had a tough call to make, but had he spotted the offsides before Hartman scored, “the play blows dead and no one’s talking about this. It’s just like an offside 20 other times during the game.”

Nyquist, acquired from Nashville for a second-round draft pick in 2026, is an unrestricted free agent and he said he would welcome a return to the Wild. He had two goals and five assists in 22 regular-season games but did not have a point in the playoffs.

“I love it here. The guys are great, great group of guys,” said Nyquist, who will be 36 at the start of the 2025-26 season. “But you never know. We’ll see July 1.”

Joel Eriksson Ek hopes to have core muscle surgery next week. It’s an injury the center expects to be a non-issue by the time next season starts.

Eriksson Ek missed almost half the season hurt, beginning with the broken nose he suffered in Game No. 2. He was also sidelined for six weeks in the second half because of a lower-body injury.

“When it builds up like that, for sure it gets hard,” Eriksson Ek said, “especially I think also mentally you get drained having those nagging things. It’s no fun, but it’s part of it.

“Just going to try to get healthy and feel good.”