Marco Rossi- Wild Fans- Don’t Panic

Photo Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

When the news broke that Marco Rossi was being sent to the AHL, Minnesota Wild Fans were sent into a panic. For good reason, Marco Rossi is a top prospect and a top-line center pick. Rossi being sent to Iowa was done for a reason and a good reason.

When with Minnesota, he played in 16 games, and during that stretch of 16 games, he only scored 1 assist. During the course of the 16 games, he was averaging 12:26 of time on ice, with his best night being 16 minutes and 39 seconds and his worst being 4 minutes and 33 seconds. Averaging this timing out and the lone assist can kill a young prospect's confidence, which then the organization has to make the call, keep him up, or send him to the minors. Sending Rossi to the minors was the right call.

Marco Rossi made his AHL season debut against the San Jose Barracuda, and with the confidence, he already has, a little over 5 minutes into the game, he scored an assist. He helped his teammate Joseph Crammarosa net the goal along with Daemon Hunt with the assist. The night didn’t end with an assist for Rossi, just 7 minutes later, Rossi comes up the ranks and pots the first goal of his AHL season, and does it on a power play. Rossi helped teammate Sammy Walker net a goal and earned a 2nd assist of the night.

Rossi has great defensive play, and Bill Guerin, the General Manager of the Minnesota Wild has even praised him for it. “He continues to work hard and try to do the right things. He’s responsible in his defensive zone. He competes there. He knows what he’s doing. And that’s usually the hardest thing for a young player to really get ahold of. His production is something that hopefully will come. But we have to help him get there.”

The AHL is around to help develop and grow young players such as Rossi. It’s there for players, as Rossi, to gain confidence back, take a step back, and maybe fix issues that are not going to be able to be fixed in the NHL because of the fast-paced environment. Rossi will come back to Minnesota at some point this season, so Wild Fans: Don’t Panic!

-Samantha Wismer- Olde City Sports Network/American Beauties-An AHL Podcast

Photo Credit: *Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images*