Wild exit meetings: Rossi on contract and trade potential, Nyquist on offside goal reversal

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kirill Kaprizov’s potential extension as soon as July 1 may be the most critical piece of Minnesota Wild business this offseason, but Marco Rossi’s future may have to be determined first.

Does he re-sign before or after being tendered a qualifying offer? Will he be traded around the draft? Or does his agent, Ian Pulver, shop around for an offer sheet if both don’t come to fruition before he officially becomes a restricted free agent on July 1?

Things got more complicated during the Wild’s playoff series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights when Rossi centered the fourth line, was taken off the top power-play unit and logged the third-lowest average ice time of any player on the ice.

Rossi, 23, said he “was very disappointed” by his usage and had an honest, “man-like” exit meeting with coach John Hynes on Sunday. Hynes and Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin are scheduled to talk to the media on Tuesday.

“It was a good talk,” Rossi said. “As a player, you don’t always have to understand some decisions, but it’s important to respect those decisions. I know it’s a huge thing.”

Rossi centered the fourth line in the playoffs despite playing the top six most of the season and scoring a career-high 24 goals and 60 points. He scored two goals in the six-game series, yet was rarely elevated despite outplaying center Freddy Gaudreau, who had no points and two shots in six games.

Marco Rossi gets his first career playoff goal on the feed from Yakov Trenin. 2-0 #mnwild lead pic.twitter.com/xeI3xvro5k

— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) April 25, 2025

There’s no doubt this will make contract negotiations on a potential next contract much more complicated. The Wild offered Rossi a five-year contract in the wintertime, one he didn’t accept. It’s unclear if that would even be on the table anymore, but it doesn’t seem the Wild want to commit longer-term with Rossi. And the way he was deployed in the playoffs may also mean the ship has sailed on Rossi’s willingness to sign a shorter-term bridge deal.

The incentive for a young player to take a two- or three-year contract is the ability to further prove himself over the term of the contract so he can hit a home run deal on the next contract. But if Rossi thinks he’ll be getting sheltered minutes in a bottom-six role, it would make no sense for him to sign such a deal.

“I’m still digesting, obviously, the loss in the first round, and the rest my agents are dealing with,” Rossi said. “It’s out of my control now. So my focus is to play hockey.”

Rossi said he learned a lot in his first postseason and felt he played well. On a team ravaged by injury, he also played 82 games for the second straight season despite being banged up a few times. That’s something he’s proud of.

“I’ve showed all year long how good I am,” he said, “and (going) … from 40 points to 60 points this year. And anyone who knows me, it’s always going up and I always improve, and especially with my work ethic. So I’ve (got) no doubt, I’m for sure a top-six guy.”

Rossi said during the season and again Sunday that he wasn’t going to complain about where the Wild played him in the season. It’s always “team first” for him, he said.

Teammates appreciated that.

“I think he’ll be the first person to tell you that he didn’t care where he was,” said winger Matt Boldy, Rossi’s former linemate in Iowa who made his NHL debut the same day in 2022 in Boston. “He wanted to win. And I think that we have a lot of guys like that on our team. It doesn’t matter if we won that series and he was our fourth-line center, I’m sure he’d be one of the happiest people in the world right now. And I think that speaks to him as a person.

“The fact that he can be our first-line center, and then go play and be our fourth-line center and be equally as effective, speaks to his game. It’s hard to do. It’s really hard to do. So a lot of credit to him.”

Added Mats Zuccarello: “He’s still young in the playoff picture. He’s got some real bright years coming and he’s going to be a huge part of this team or whatever team he’s going to be (on) in the future. He’s going to have a really good career.”

Asked if he’s worried he could be traded, Rossi said, “I’m not thinking about that right now. Like I said, playoffs were just finished. As a player, you’re not happy that you lost. So I’m still digesting that. And after that, I’m gonna rest now and I’m going to have a clear mind, and then you will think about those stuff.”

Buium learns valuable lessons

Minutes before Zeev Buium was hustling to MSP Airport for a flight to Amsterdam to connect to Denmark to represent the United States in the World Championship, he said he knows he must have a big summer to put himself in the best position to make next year’s team out of training camp.

He plans to spend a decent chunk of his offseason working out and skating at TRIA Rink.

His four-game taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs was an eye-opener as to how different the pace is from college to the NHL and how quickly shooting and passing lanes can shut.

2024-2025 Exit Interviews begin today with Zeev Buium

Watch full interview here » https://t.co/qkIPkhkbxZ pic.twitter.com/LYGaQ0QZCn

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 4, 2025

He says his ‘welcome to the NHL moment’ came in Game 1 when his six-on-five attempted pass to Matt Boldy was picked off by William Karlsson. It led to a Boldy penalty and ultimately Brett Howden’s empty-net power-play goal.

“I tried to slide it over to Bolds and they picked it off and I think that was my kind of ‘this is the NHL,’” Buium said. “It’s not just going to get to that guy. I think, for me, that was probably the biggest thing, how guys are selling out and everyone’s sticks are so good and detailed.”

Buium also feels his double-minor high-sticking penalty on Mark Stone in the third period of Game 4 helped turn the series around. The Wild were 31-0 when leading after two periods, including in the playoffs. Shea Theodore tied the game on one of Vegas’ power plays en route to a come-from-behind win in which Buium did not play a shift in overtime.

“I felt like that game was almost on me just because you take a penalty like that at that kind of time, it sucks,” he said. “It happens. It’s a mistake, but I saw his stick kind of coming in, and last second he kind of stood tall and his stick kind of came in and just right to his face.

“It was tough. It’s never something you want to do. You never want to put the team or the guys in that situation, but everyone was obviously great about it: ‘It’s alright. Move on. It’s a mistake.’

“Whatever. It sucked. I think that’s also something I kind of learned, where it’s like you gotta make sure every second you’re out there, you gotta be aware of where guys’ sticks are, where guys are. You can’t get loose at all. So, I think even just from that is something I learned.”

Nyquist reflects on pivotal offside goal reversal

We’ll never know if the Wild would have won the series had Gustav Nyquist not been offside before Ryan Hartman’s go-ahead goal with 1:15 left in regulation in Game 5.

It’s the butterfly effect.

Who knows if the Wild would have closed out the final 75 seconds of the game? Who knows if it would have been such a mental blow that Vegas would not have been able to pull off a Game 6 victory? And even if they did, who knows if the Wild would have won Game 7?

Gus Nyquist talked about the “tough play,” his offsides at end of Game 5. Said he couldn’t see through Vegas’ Barbashev at the time where he and Hartman were. Called it a “frustrating” year overall. Would “absolutely” like to re-sign Minnesota if it works out pic.twitter.com/ox8VrB2UFy

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) May 4, 2025

But for the first time Sunday, Nyquist, a pending free agent who’d like to re-sign with Minnesota, addressed the offside review that caused Hartman’s goal to be wiped off the board. The game went to overtime and Howden won the game for Vegas.

“Obviously it’s an unfortunate play,” Nyquist said. “At the end of the day, it’s on me to stay onside there. And from my view, there’s a guy in between (Ivan Barbashev), 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 says he likes when linesmen don’t blow the whistle on close offside calls because of video review. For instance, he pointed out the incorrect offside whistle by a linesman in Game 4 that ruined Justin Brazeau’s breakaway opportunity in the third period.

But, he pointed out, “I’m not blaming the linesman, but if he calls (me offside) right away … the play blows dead, and no one’s talking about this. It’s just an offside like 20 other times during the game. But it’s unfortunate, obviously. That was a tough moment in the game, obviously, when you have a chance to go up one with a minute left in a big game there.”

Zuccarello on his future

Zuccarello, 37, has one year left on his contract. Asked about his future and whether he can foresee himself playing past next season, he said he’s proceeding as if next year is his last.

“I don’t want to be a guy who just plays to play,” Zuccarello said. “I want to play because I feel like I’m good enough to play. So that’s why I gotta take the next year to see where the team’s going, where I would fit in or whatever. That’s something.

“But no, full focus on next season and hopefully get a win next season and that’s it. And whatever happens in the future is nothing I can give you guys. I can play, I can not play, I don’t know. My goal is just next season. It’s all in. I think everyone feels the same way.”

Zuccarello joked that he’s always dealing with some injury but “felt good all year.”

Then he was reminded of the ruptured testicle that knocked him out of the lineup in November: “Obviously, Brock (Faber) shot me in the balls. That was the only little hiccup I had this year.”

Zuccarello: “Brock shot me in the balls. That was my only hiccup I had this year.” 🤕

Zuccarello is entering next season like it’s his last in the NHL and then he’ll decide his future if he can play beyond the year. He says he’s “all-in” next season. pic.twitter.com/5AYCgZpwIz

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 4, 2025

This was the first season Zuccarello didn’t play a chunk of the year on the same line as Kaprizov, even when Kaprizov was healthy.

“I think we could play together,” Zuccarello admitted. “I don’t know yet. But six years before has been OK. No, you gotta play with who you gotta play with. Obviously you’d like to play with Kirill, but when you don’t, you gotta make the best out of it. Yeah, that’s just how it goes.”

Eriksson Ek faces offseason surgery

Following a season in which Joel Eriksson Ek left the lineup five times for different injuries, it was only fitting that he revealed he was dealing with another one: a sports hernia.

This explains why Eriksson Ek had to be seen last month by the same doctor in New York who operated on Kaprizov in January.

Joel Eriksson Ek talks to the media about the growth of the team and looking forward to the 2025-2026 season

Watch full interviews here » https://t.co/qkIPkhkbxZ pic.twitter.com/zKVwQ6uePu

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 4, 2025

Eriksson Ek will have core muscle surgery in New York next week before returning to his offseason home in Karlstad, Sweden.

“It’s hard, I think,” Eriksson Ek said of a season’s worth of injuries that limited him to 46 regular-season games. “It’s part of it, but when it builds up like that, for sure it gets hard. Especially, I think also mentally you get drained having those nagging things. It’s no fun. Just going to try to get healthy and feel good.”

(Photo of Marco Rossi: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)

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