It did with Pinto

Let’s check out Pinto’s start to this season, oh wait…

He’s still unsigned. Should tell you how high his ceiling is thought to be by his own team.

Pinto's RFA status isn't any reflection on his game, more so the reflection of an incompetent GM who doesn't know how to properly budget the cap.

I love that you're still doubling and tripling down. Now you've included "third line" in your arguments because you just found out he's playing on the third line.

This is gonna be my last reply to you because 1) you're not very smart and it's obvious, and 2) you're very disingenuous (dangerous combination).

If the Wild had a full slate of cap space, Rossi would still be on the team in the same role. He is very clearly an NHL player at this point and the fact that you keep trying to tell me he isn't is VERY OBVIOUS evidence that you haven't watched any of the games.

The reason he's in the spot he's in is because the Wild's coach likes the Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello line from previous years, and the Johansson-Eriksson Ek-Boldy line from last year. He wasn't going to break those up regardless, because in general he doesn't make lineup changes unless he's forced to. If those six guys are all back again this year, he's not changing those lines until there are injuries. (EDIT: I love that, based on the post above this one, you can clearly grasp that there are other nuances and context behind something like Pinto not having a contract yet, but you can't apply the same logic to Rossi being on the third line or anything else about him)

I hope this helps. You said you've had an interest in Rossi's development for years, maybe you should be happy that he's actually developing well instead of trying to convince someone who clearly knows more about the situation than you that he's "near bust territory".

GM has been dumb but if the team saw him as a difference maker they would have moved out the cap to get him signed. They didn’t.

Also I’m not saying you guys will be wrong in the long run about Pinto vs Rossi. I’m just saying wait until after the season when Rossi has played a full season and he’s where Pinto is now in terms of NHL tenure.

I knew he was on the 3rd line. I literally made an ACGM back in September where I had him on that same line

If the wild had a full slate of cap space, he'd be in the minors. Be for real.

It all just seems like copium to me. Dude is literally on the cusp of being a bust and you're fighting tooth and nail to convince me otherwise because you can't grasp that it was just a bad draft pick. Nothing significant thus far and I can't wait to come back to this thread in a few months and laugh and point my middle finger in your face because Rossi is still strugglign to make a name for himself.

How? Teams want Boucher or a 1st equivalent to move Joseph and it's unlikely anybody really wants Brannstrom. They can't clear any cap. Dorion elected to sign a career backup to a 4x4 when he could have just signed Pinto. That situation has NOTHING to do with Pinto as a player and everything to do with Dorion just being a bad GM.

If Pinto is the difference maker you make him out to be you give up the 1st to get him signed and on the ice. If he’s a difference maker that 1st is late anyways. If he’s a difference maker to go with all of the other young talent that 1st would be used to add to the current roster anyways so why not add to the current roster?

I'd rather not trade Pinto while taking a huge risk



Pinto was injured he whole 2021-22 season

If Rossi was the difference maker everyone still thinks he is he wouldn't be stuck on the 3rd line struggling to make an impact at the NHL level.

The difference is one player is proven, the other isn't. You know what you're getting with Pinto. With Rossi, Minnesota is still trying to figure that out.

Both teams say no for different reasons. Minnesota is probably still holds Rossi in high regards -- even if relative to his draft position he won't reach the ceiling of a top-line center -- his projection is still in line of a second-line, 200-foot center. His early season results so far this year, he leads the Wild in possession and has been their best play driver, with horrendous luck: PDO of 0.935. He is coming off 16-35-51 in 53 games played last year in the AHL at age 21 and 18-35-53 in 63 games in the AHL at age 20. I think there is no real caution other than lingering post-COVID issues that Rossi will not be able to adjust his game to the NHL and be a play driver. He also has another year on an ELC compared to Pinto who still needs a contract for the penny pinching Wild.

For Ottawa, they are trying to build their young roster, not trade players from it. They missed on DeBrincat but got their core players locked up and aren't going to wait to find out if Rossi is going to be what Pinto is for them already. He also isn't "proven" by any means. He's played 100 games and has 43 points. He certainly looks like he is going to be a contributing player to their team. He's shown his capabilities, let's see if they can be replicated.

I also don't understand the sentiment that Rossi is a bust simply because he isn't where Pinto is along their development. I like Pinto and believe he is going to be a good player, but Rossi's ceiling is absolutely higher from an offensive, play-driving standpoint and is skilled in other areas that Pinto is not. Simply because they are at different points along their development curve does not mean one is better than the other.

Rossi was fighting for his life.

Rossi is a year younger. OTT was still wondering what they were getting in Pinto going into last season.

And? Still the better player with a higher ceiling.

For being drafted 9OA and having the pedigree that he did coming out of Juniors, the kid should be doing a lot better than he currently has been. Above, I didn't say he WAS a bust, I just said it's getting close. He's struggled to translate that "play driving" offensive talent that you claim he has from the AHL to the NHL. His size does hold him back some, and he lacks genuine NHL-level speed.

To claim he still has that high end 1C pedigree is wild, and misinformed. I noted above that he could still make an impact as a middle 6 forward, but Pinto has already scored 20 in his rookie season, while missing the entire season prior due to injury. Pinto's ceiling is just higher. He's a more well-rounded player both ends of the ice. You can't really still say Rossi has an elite high end offensive ceiling when he's struggled to prove so this far.

Prove it

One has a 20 goal season. The other has 2 career points.

You’re just disingenuous.

One has played a full NHL season at 22 years old. The other has just started his 1st full NHL season at 22 years old. Try proving something.

Uh huh..

If you missed above, Pinto missed the entirety of the season prior, lol. You're grasping at straws.

The fact that Pinto has made 3x more of an impact at the NHL level, skipping the AHL entirely, already proves my point.

Not really. He was 22 when he played his first full NHL season. But good try.

And the other was fighting for his life and missed an entire season.

One has a 20 goal season the other has 2 career points.