No one knows yet if it’s going to be a rosy summer for the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a>. But it is increasingly looking like it might be a Rossi summer, one way or another.
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There’s so much <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/minnesota-wild-declined-vancouver-canucks-trade-package-marco-rossi-report">smoke around Marco Rossi’s name right now</a> that one might think he’s been elected Pope. Instead, he’s just a hockey player who seems very likely to be traded in the immediate future. And if the general scuttlebutt is to be believed, Rossi’s most likely destination is Vancouver. The rumours connecting the two have only grown more frequent and specific as we approach June 27 and the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
The latest round of rumours make it pretty clear that discussions are ongoing, and make it possible to make a guess at what those negotiations look like. In fact, they set us up for a compelling little game of ‘process of elimination.’
<a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/minnesota-wild-declined-vancouver-canucks-trade-package-marco-rossi-report">Here’s what we’ve heard</a>:
Longtime Minnesota reporter Michael Russo of The Athletic reported this week that the Canucks had gone as far as to make an offer for Rossi, and that the offer included the 15th overall pick in this year’s draft and a player. The offer was turned down.
Whether the player attached to this offer was off the NHL roster or a prospect is as of yet unknown. But Russo makes it sound as though an NHL player – or, at least, an NHL-ready player – is GM Bill Guerin’s preference. The Wild aren’t rebuilding or retooling; they’re looking to be as competitive as possible next season.
Further reporting indicates that Guerin would also prefer to add size to his own roster. That seems to be a large part of the reason why he’s willing to part with the 5’9” Rossi, and is in keeping with Guerin’s whole general ethos.
So, there are our parameters. The trade would appear to be close, and could just be a matter of the Canucks adding the right player to their first rounder in order to seal the deal. The natural question this raises is: who might that player be?
As we said, it’s a bit of a process of elimination.
The Wild’s blueline is absolutely stacked. They’ve got Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Jacob Middleton, and Zeev Buium all signed through the next two seasons, and other names like Zach Bogosian, David Jiricek, and Declan Chisholm in the mix.
Would they consider adding someone of Quinn Hughes or Filip Hronek’s calibre? Of course they would. But <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/why-filip-hronek-trade-not-something-vancouver-canucks-considering">those players are far too valuable to even consider</a> as an additional piece in a Rossi trade, and everyone below them on the depth chart would be of limited interest to the Wild.
Suffice it to say that the player in question is not a defender.
Goalie-wise, Minnesota would also seem to be set with the tandem of Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt.
Chances seem very good, then, that the player in question is a forward. But which?
We can eliminate some of the biggest, most expensive names first. Elias Pettersson isn’t going anywhere at this point, and clearly isn’t an ‘extra piece’ in a trade like this. The same goes for Jake DeBrusk and his lengthy, NMC-laden contract.
A name that has cropped up in plenty of rumours is that of <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/farmies-lekkerimaki-scores-two-goals-give-abbotsford-3-1-commanding-series-lead-over-charlotte">Jonathan Lekkerimäki</a>. But there are some questions as to his immediate NHL readiness, and he isn’t a large fellow, so it’s probably not Lekkerimäki, either.
Guerin’s size preference almost certainly removes Nils Höglander from the discussion, too. Logically, it should also exclude Conor Garland…but we’re not actually so sure about that. If there’s a player in this league who plays bigger than their physical size, it’s Garland, and he’s a player we can see Guerin being a fan of despite his lack of height. Throw Garland on the ‘maybe’ column for now as a <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/should-vancouver-canucks-start-extension-talks-pending-2026-ufas-come-july-1">pending 2026 UFA and someone the Wild could talk extension with</a> within the next couple of weeks.
The Canucks do, of course, have some genuine big bodies to offer. <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/could-filip-chytil-convert-top-six-winger-vancouver-canucks">Filip Chytil is 6’3” and 209 pounds</a>, though folks almost never refer to him as a ‘big guy,’ probably due to his perceived fragility. Chytil doesn’t exactly scream ‘Minnesota hockey,’ but he would offer up a centre replacement for Rossi and a high level of skill to go with that size. He’s definitely a contender here.
The next <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/difficult-season-vancouver-canucks-dakota-joshua-on-off-ice-2024-25-year-review">largest body is that of Dakota Joshua</a>, also 6’3” and 205 pounds, and absolutely willing to use it. Joshua is the forward who brings the most of the good things that come with size. He’s under contract for three more years at a cap hit of $3.25 million that looks reasonable in the new cap era, even after a down season.
If we were to pick a singular name that we suspect the Wild are most interested in, it’d be Joshua. Would it be considered bad PR to trade a player a year after they overcame cancer? That’s a possibility, and you can count on some sharing that opinion via social media. But in reality, we have no idea what sorts of discussions happen behind the scenes. Joshua does have a 12-team NTC, and Minnesota isn’t too terribly far from his home state of Michigan.
Actually, if we were to pick just one name we’re sure the Wild are interested in, it’d probably be that of Kiefer Sherwood. But we barely want to write that thought into existence, and all the reasons why the Wild might want him are the exact reasons why the Canucks know trading him would be unproductive and unpopular. Let’s keep him off the list.
Beyond Chytil and Joshua, there are other big bodies to be found. Drew O’Connor, at 6’4”, is taller than either of them. The recently-acquired forward was signed to a two-year, $2.5 million AAV extension shortly after arriving with Pittsburgh, and handed his own 12-team NTC. It would seem a bit odd for the Canucks to move O’Connor after targeting him, but he’s certainly a big body who can contribute to any NHL roster. Consider him a maybe, but not someone the Wild would be tripping over themselves to acquire.
There’s also Teddy Blueger to consider. If Rossi enters the picture, and especially if Chytil sticks around, too, Blueger’s centre job is at risk. Aatu Räty should probably rightly get roster preference over him. At 6’0” and 185 pounds, Blueger isn’t exactly big, nor is he the sort of talent another team demands be added to a trade. If he’s the NHL player attached to the 15OA, one would have to imagine there’d be another piece to the deal. And the Canucks are short on additional sweeteners to offer.
One other name we’ll throw out for consideration is that of Linus Karlsson. At 6’1”, Karlsson isn’t small, and he’s increasingly finding ways to use that size to his advantage. He’s currently leading the Calder Cup Playoffs in scoring, and seems destined to find his way onto an NHL roster for 2025/26 – whether that be in Vancouver or elsewhere. We could see the Wild having some interest in Karlsson, but he probably doesn’t quite tip the scales as that extra piece they’re looking for.
All told, we really have no way of knowing what the Canucks’ initial offer was here. But we can more easily guess at what the Wild are asking for as a counter.
We think Chytil and Joshua are the two names most likely to be involved. It’s a tossup as to which Minnesota might prefer, with Chytil offering the centre position and more productivity, and Joshua offering significantly more physicality.
Would the 15th overall pick, plus either one of these players, be worth trading for Rossi? If GM Patrik Allvin and Co. think he’s the 2C they need, and are confident they can sign him to a reasonable contract off his current RFA status, we think it’s probably worth both their while and the Wild’s.
Whether or not the offer actually gets made is something we’ll have to wait up to a week to find out, however.
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No one knows yet if it’s going to be a rosy summer for the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a>. But it is increasingly looking like it might be a Rossi summer, one way or another.
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There’s so much <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/minnesota-wild-declined-vancouver-canucks-trade-package-marco-rossi-report">smoke around Marco Rossi’s name right now</a> that one might think he’s been elected Pope. Instead, he’s just a hockey player who seems very likely to be traded in the immediate future. And if the general scuttlebutt is to be believed, Rossi’s most likely destination is Vancouver. The rumours connecting the two have only grown more frequent and specific as we approach June 27 and the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.

The latest round of rumours make it pretty clear that discussions are ongoing, and make it possible to make a guess at what those negotiations look like. In fact, they set us up for a compelling little game of ‘process of elimination.’

<a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/minnesota-wild-declined-vancouver-canucks-trade-package-marco-rossi-report">Here’s what we’ve heard</a>:

Longtime Minnesota reporter Michael Russo of The Athletic reported this week that the Canucks had gone as far as to make an offer for Rossi, and that the offer included the 15th overall pick in this year’s draft and a player. The offer was turned down.

Whether the player attached to this offer was off the NHL roster or a prospect is as of yet unknown. But Russo makes it sound as though an NHL player – or, at least, an NHL-ready player – is GM Bill Guerin’s preference. The Wild aren’t rebuilding or retooling; they’re looking to be as competitive as possible next season.

Further reporting indicates that Guerin would also prefer to add size to his own roster. That seems to be a large part of the reason why he’s willing to part with the 5’9” Rossi, and is in keeping with Guerin’s whole general ethos.

So, there are our parameters. The trade would appear to be close, and could just be a matter of the Canucks adding the right player to their first rounder in order to seal the deal. The natural question this raises is: who might that player be?

As we said, it’s a bit of a process of elimination.

The Wild’s blueline is absolutely stacked. They’ve got Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Jacob Middleton, and Zeev Buium all signed through the next two seasons, and other names like Zach Bogosian, David Jiricek, and Declan Chisholm in the mix.

Would they consider adding someone of Quinn Hughes or Filip Hronek’s calibre? Of course they would. But <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/why-filip-hronek-trade-not-something-vancouver-canucks-considering">those players are far too valuable to even consider</a> as an additional piece in a Rossi trade, and everyone below them on the depth chart would be of limited interest to the Wild.

Suffice it to say that the player in question is not a defender.

Goalie-wise, Minnesota would also seem to be set with the tandem of Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt.

Chances seem very good, then, that the player in question is a forward. But which?

We can eliminate some of the biggest, most expensive names first. Elias Pettersson isn’t going anywhere at this point, and clearly isn’t an ‘extra piece’ in a trade like this. The same goes for Jake DeBrusk and his lengthy, NMC-laden contract.

A name that has cropped up in plenty of rumours is that of <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/farmies-lekkerimaki-scores-two-goals-give-abbotsford-3-1-commanding-series-lead-over-charlotte">Jonathan Lekkerimäki</a>. But there are some questions as to his immediate NHL readiness, and he isn’t a large fellow, so it’s probably not Lekkerimäki, either.

Guerin’s size preference almost certainly removes Nils Höglander from the discussion, too. Logically, it should also exclude Conor Garland…but we’re not actually so sure about that. If there’s a player in this league who plays bigger than their physical size, it’s Garland, and he’s a player we can see Guerin being a fan of despite his lack of height. Throw Garland on the ‘maybe’ column for now as a <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/should-vancouver-canucks-start-extension-talks-pending-2026-ufas-come-july-1">pending 2026 UFA and someone the Wild could talk extension with</a> within the next couple of weeks.

The Canucks do, of course, have some genuine big bodies to offer. <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/could-filip-chytil-convert-top-six-winger-vancouver-canucks">Filip Chytil is 6’3” and 209 pounds</a>, though folks almost never refer to him as a ‘big guy,’ probably due to his perceived fragility. Chytil doesn’t exactly scream ‘Minnesota hockey,’ but he would offer up a centre replacement for Rossi and a high level of skill to go with that size. He’s definitely a contender here.

The next <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/difficult-season-vancouver-canucks-dakota-joshua-on-off-ice-2024-25-year-review">largest body is that of Dakota Joshua</a>, also 6’3” and 205 pounds, and absolutely willing to use it. Joshua is the forward who brings the most of the good things that come with size. He’s under contract for three more years at a cap hit of $3.25 million that looks reasonable in the new cap era, even after a down season.

If we were to pick a singular name that we suspect the Wild are most interested in, it’d be Joshua. Would it be considered bad PR to trade a player a year after they overcame cancer? That’s a possibility, and you can count on some sharing that opinion via social media. But in reality, we have no idea what sorts of discussions happen behind the scenes. Joshua does have a 12-team NTC, and Minnesota isn’t too terribly far from his home state of Michigan.

Actually, if we were to pick just one name we’re sure the Wild are interested in, it’d probably be that of Kiefer Sherwood. But we barely want to write that thought into existence, and all the reasons why the Wild might want him are the exact reasons why the Canucks know trading him would be unproductive and unpopular. Let’s keep him off the list.

Beyond Chytil and Joshua, there are other big bodies to be found. Drew O’Connor, at 6’4”, is taller than either of them. The recently-acquired forward was signed to a two-year, $2.5 million AAV extension shortly after arriving with Pittsburgh, and handed his own 12-team NTC. It would seem a bit odd for the Canucks to move O’Connor after targeting him, but he’s certainly a big body who can contribute to any NHL roster. Consider him a maybe, but not someone the Wild would be tripping over themselves to acquire.

There’s also Teddy Blueger to consider. If Rossi enters the picture, and especially if Chytil sticks around, too, Blueger’s centre job is at risk. Aatu Räty should probably rightly get roster preference over him. At 6’0” and 185 pounds, Blueger isn’t exactly big, nor is he the sort of talent another team demands be added to a trade. If he’s the NHL player attached to the 15OA, one would have to imagine there’d be another piece to the deal. And the Canucks are short on additional sweeteners to offer.

One other name we’ll throw out for consideration is that of Linus Karlsson. At 6’1”, Karlsson isn’t small, and he’s increasingly finding ways to use that size to his advantage. He’s currently leading the Calder Cup Playoffs in scoring, and seems destined to find his way onto an NHL roster for 2025/26 – whether that be in Vancouver or elsewhere. We could see the Wild having some interest in Karlsson, but he probably doesn’t quite tip the scales as that extra piece they’re looking for.

All told, we really have no way of knowing what the Canucks’ initial offer was here. But we can more easily guess at what the Wild are asking for as a counter.

We think Chytil and Joshua are the two names most likely to be involved. It’s a tossup as to which Minnesota might prefer, with Chytil offering the centre position and more productivity, and Joshua offering significantly more physicality.

Would the 15th overall pick, plus either one of these players, be worth trading for Rossi? If GM Patrik Allvin and Co. think he’s the 2C they need, and are confident they can sign him to a reasonable contract off his current RFA status, we think it’s probably worth both their while and the Wild’s.

Whether or not the offer actually gets made is something we’ll have to wait up to a week to find out, however.

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