For the second straight year, Calgary Flames fans have been forced to find a new team to cheer for in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There was hope amongst the fan base that the Flames could bounce back after a tough 2022-23 season, but it became evident early on that this current roster isn’t good enough to compete. Luckily, they have a new general manager (GM) in Craig Conroy who quickly realized that himself.
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Conroy made several trades this season, sending away some of his top pending free agents in Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, and Noah Hanifin for young players, prospects and draft picks. While there still could be another few years of struggle, this organization is finally stripping things down and building towards the future, rather than staying right in the middle as they had done for so many years prior.
One thing the Flames have been careful of is maintaining that this isn’t a rebuild, but a retool. By definition, they would prefer to add young players who are already NHL-established if possible. As fate has it, there is a player who is said to be available that fits that category, while having sky-high potential.
Rossi a Candidate to Be Moved
At just 22 years old, it appears that Marco Rossi has some legitimate star potential. The Austrian forward was selected ninth overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft after a 39-goal, 120-point season with the Ottawa 67’s in the Ontario Hockey League. Like many, he wasn’t able to play much hockey in the 2020-21 season due to COVID, logging just a single game in the Swiss National League.
That missed season hasn’t appeared to hurt Rossi’s development, however, as he is continuing to produce big numbers professionally. He spent the vast majority of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons in the American Hockey League, registering 34 goals and 104 points in a combined 116 games.
Rossi spent the entirety of the 2023-24 season with the Wild, and put together a solid rookie campaign. In 82 games, he scored 21 goals and 40 points. Despite the success, it sounds as though Wild GM Bill Guerin is considering moving him this offseason (from ‘Michael Russo and Joe Smith: What could the Minnesota Wild get for Gustavsson? Will they trade Rossi? Mailbag, part 1’, The Athletic 04/21/24).
“Higher than you’d think,” Michael Russo wrote when asked what the chances of Rossi being moved are. “If the Wild could trade Rossi for the same level of high-end prospect, but one who’s bigger and faster, there’s a real chance they’d pull the trigger.”
Matt Coronato is highly regarded as the Flames’ top prospect, though he is also undersized. One prospect the Flames do have who is highly skilled with a large frame is 6-foot-4 Samuel Honzek, who was selected 16th overall in 2023.
Honzek is coming off a season in the Western Hockey League with the Vancouver Giants in which he scored 10 goals and 31 points in 33 games. The 19-year-old’s offensive skill isn’t as high as Rossi’s, but he plays a more physical brand of hockey which it sounds like the Wild prefer.
Due to the lower skill level, Honzek alone wouldn’t be enough for the Wild to pull the trigger on this deal. It’s worth noting, however, that the Flames have tons of picks in each of the next three drafts. If Conroy were to attach a first-round pick, perhaps even the one from the Vancouver Canucks this year which will be late, that may get the conversation going. That likely still wouldn’t meet the Wild’s asking price, but could be enough to get the ball rolling.
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At the very least, it doesn’t hurt for Conroy to reach out and inquire. Despite Rossi being undersized, his offensive abilities are undeniable, and acquiring him could really help speed up the process of the Flames’ retool.