When Marco Rossi returned to the Vancouver Canucks lineup after last season’s Olympic break, he looked like a player finally finding consistent footing in the NHL.

After an injury-plagued year, Rossi recorded 20 points in 25 games down the stretch, offering a glimpse of the playmaking centre Vancouver hoped it had acquired. At just 25 years old, he appeared poised to build on that momentum and establish himself as a reliable top-six option in the lineup moving forward. Instead, Rossi’s first few weeks of the 2026-27 season have raised some questions.

Through 11 games, he has five points, including just two assists, putting him on pace for 38 points over an 84-game schedule. Four of those points came in Vancouver’s first two games against the Edmonton Oilers. He then went seven consecutive games without a point before recording an assist against the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 22.

Rossi hasn’t necessarily been disastrous on a nightly basis. The bigger concern is how difficult it has been for him to make his presence felt, particularly at five-on-five. His underlying numbers have generally sat around the middle of Vancouver’s group, but the offensive impact that made his late-season performance so encouraging has been difficult to find. Several factors help explain the difference, including a change in role, diminished power play opportunities, and the challenge of consistently creating offence at even strength.

One of the biggest factors to consider is Rossi’s fit under head coach Manny Malhotra. As outlined in a previous piece, Vancouver’s new coach has placed considerable emphasis on size and speed down the middle. Under Malhotra, centres are expected to cover ground quickly, support battles along the boards, and recover defensively when possession changes hands.

At 5-foot-9, Rossi has a different physical profile than several of Vancouver’s other centre options. His offensive instincts and ability to read plays remain valuable, but his skating can become a limitation when he needs to recover defensively, win a race to a loose puck, or keep pace with a developing transition. That doesn’t automatically make him a poor fit for Malhotra’s system. However, it does create a challenge when the coaching staff prioritizes traits that don’t necessarily play to Rossi’s greatest strengths.

His brief move to the wing and his overall deployment have also made it harder to establish a consistent offensive rhythm. Adjusting to different responsibilities and linemates can make it harder to recreate the chemistry that fuelled a productive stretch last season.

Rossi found much of his offensive success at even strength while centring the “BRÖ” line with Liam Öhgren and Brock Boeser. Malhotra, however, has deployed that combination for just over 15 minutes total at five-on-five so far this season.

That limited time together doesn’t tell the entire story, but it does highlight how different Rossi’s circumstances have been. If Vancouver wants to get more out of his offensive skill set, finding a consistent role and giving him time with linemates who complement his game would be a logical place to start.

Rossi’s late-season production also needs some context.

His 20 points in 25 games were encouraging, but during that stretch he was a staple on Vancouver’s power play, which was the second-best in the league following the Olympic break. Rossi had opportunities to use his vision and playmaking in more controlled offensive situations, helping him produce at a promising rate.

That combination hasn’t been as effective this season, and Rossi has lost his spot on the top power play unit. With fewer opportunities to produce on special teams, his five-on-five game has become more important. That’s where the questions become more pronounced. Rossi recorded just 11 five-on-five points with Vancouver last season. Six of those came while playing on the BRÖ line, suggesting that his success at even strength may have been at least partly tied to a particular combination of linemates.

That isn’t an indictment of his performance. Rather, it reminds us that his late-season scoring rate may not have reliably indicated what he could consistently produce under different circumstances. The problem for Rossi is that he hasn’t yet found another way to generate that same level of offence. When the power play isn’t providing opportunities and his line isn’t creating much at even strength, his impact can become difficult to notice.

When watching Rossi this season, the most noticeable concern isn’t a glaring defensive mistake or a string of costly turnovers. It’s how rarely he appears to be driving the play.

With Vancouver’s lack of offensive talent, being able to create breakouts and zone entries individually at times becomes all the more important for a centreman. Rossi’s skating can make it difficult to create separation from defenders or arrive first to developing opportunities. When he can’t get into position quickly, he has less time and space to use the vision and passing ability that drive his offensive game. The result is a player who can go quiet for long stretches of a game. Rossi needs to do more than avoid hurting the team; he needs to consistently create something for it.

That could mean attacking and planting roots in the middle of the ice more aggressively, getting involved around the net more often, and making quicker decisions to turn possession into scoring chances. Those adjustments would give him more ways to influence games, even when the power play isn’t producing, or his line struggles to generate sustained pressure.

Still, 11 games are too small a sample to conclude that Rossi has become a significantly worse player. His underlying numbers haven’t suggested a complete collapse, and his slow start can’t be separated entirely from Vancouver’s broader offensive struggles.

The Canucks have had difficulty generating offence consistently, making life harder for forwards throughout the lineup. Remove the two offensive outbursts against Edmonton to start the season, and Vancouver would rank third-lowest in the league in goals per game. A centre can make the right read or deliver a quality pass, but if his line can’t maintain possession or convert its chances, the results won’t always show up on the scoresheet.

Ultimately, Rossi’s quiet start looks like a combination of factors rather than one isolated problem. His power play opportunities have diminished, his fit within Malhotra’s preferred style remains uncertain, and his even-strength production hasn’t been strong enough to offset the decline in opportunities elsewhere.

The Canucks don’t need Rossi to become a completely different player. They need to find a way to maximize his offensive strengths while ensuring he can handle the demands of Malhotra’s system.

That may mean giving him more consistent linemates, finding opportunities to use him on the wing, or putting him in more favourable offensive situations. Rossi, meanwhile, needs to find ways to influence games more consistently at five-on-five rather than relying on power play production to drive his point totals.

His five-point start is underwhelming, but it isn’t enough to suggest his late-season success was a fluke. The more important question is whether he can sustain that level of production in a different role, with different responsibilities and fewer favourable opportunities.

For now, Rossi remains a player with clear offensive ability who has struggled to translate it into a consistent game-to-game impact. How he and the coaching staff respond over the coming weeks will help determine whether this is simply an adjustment period or a more significant concern for Vancouver’s top six.