After recovering from a rough start with a 4-1-1 record so far in November, the Minnesota Wild are looking to keep that positive momentum. But they will have to do so, at least for a time, without their top-line center.
Wild coach John Hynes confirmed on Friday that Marco Rossi is out for the foreseeable future, labeling the Austrian’s lower body injury as week-to-week.
“Something that was bothering him a little bit and started to get a little bit worse,” Hynes said. “Now he’s out.”
Rossi, 24, blocked a shot early in the Wild’s 2-1 overtime loss in Philadelphia on Oct. 18. He continued playing, despite appearing to be in some pain, and assisted on Minnesota’s lone goal. But he was scratched from the lineup two nights later for a win versus the Rangers in New York.
Since then, Rossi had been in the lineup for the past 11 games but apparently has not fully recovered from the injury suffered in Philadelphia.
Despite being of average size, and playing a net-front game where injuries are more common, Rossi has been one of Minnesota’s more durable players. The game he missed in October was his first night off the ice in two years. In 17 games this season, Rossi has four goals and nine assists. But even Hynes acknowledged that in the modern NHL, just because you are in the lineup does not mean you are fully healthy.
“Just the nature of the league, some guys can get through and play through,” Hynes said. “Now, you don’t play 82 games if you don’t play banged up. … To play every game of a season, at this level, you’re not playing 100 percent for most of them. But he was able to get through last year.”
Rossi signed a three-year, $15 million contract extension late in the summer after considerable talk in the off-season that he could be traded for the right return.
His current absence leaves the Wild thin in the experienced centers department, especially with veteran Nico Sturm still recovering from a training camp injury and not expected to be available until December.
In the near-term, rookie Danila Yurov — who has been in and out of the lineup as he adjusts to the style and pace of the NHL — was elevated to center the team’s third line, and Ben Jones will center the fourth line. Jones has played six games without recording a point but has been solid in the faceoff circle.
During the team’s Friday morning practice at TRIA Rink, Hynes put Ryan Hartman at center on the top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello. He had Yurov centering the third line between Vinnie Hinostroza and Vladimir Tarasenko, and the fourth line was Jones between Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin.
The second line of Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson remained intact.
“Marco has a lot of roles on the team that now we’re going to have to fill,” Hynes said. “So, we’ll see if we can give Danila what he can handle but continue to inch him along and progress him as long as he continues to progress.”
Yurov, who signed in May after spending parts of the previous five seasons in the Russian KHL, has two goals and no assists in his first 13 NHL games.
The loss of Rossi, at least for the time being, could also prompt Wild general manager Bill Guerin to more actively pursue an addition to the roster from the outside. With the Wild off to a slow start, and with salary cap money at his disposal, Guerin has said publicly and recently that he is open to exploring the trade market.
The Wild host Anaheim on Saturday and Vegas on Sunday. Both games start at 5 p.m. at Grand Casino Arena.
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