After months of trade speculation, restricted free agent center Marco Rossi is signing a new deal. PuckPedia reports the forward will sign a three-year deal with the Minnesota Wild worth around $15M in total, working out to a cap hit around $5M. The backloaded deal will pay Rossi $4M in 2025-26 and increase by $1M increments each season, giving him a $6M qualifying offer when he can become an RFA again upon expiry in 2028, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic. It’s a welcome increase for Rossi as he comes off his entry-level contract, but it’s still significantly less than he was hoping for. The 2020 ninth overall pick took major strides in his development last season, posting a career-high 24 goals and 60 points for Minnesota in first-line deployment despite missing star wingman Kirill Kaprizov for more than half the season. As a result, he entered talks this summer looking for a long-term deal in the $7M range annually. It was how Rossi ended the season that set the stage for a rather sour offseason. Afte
