Rossi named Wild nominee for Masterton Trophy

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The Twin Cities chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association (PHWA) today announced the nomination of Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi for the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The trophy is presented annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

Rossi, 22, has recorded 37 points (20-17=37), 155 shots, two power-play goals PPG) and two game-winning goals (GWG) while playing in all 75 games for Minnesota this season. The 5-foot-9 native of Feldkirch, Austria, ranks T-1st among NHL rookies this season in GWG, second in shots, is T-2nd in goals and fifth in points. Rossi’s 20 goals this season rank second all-time among Wild rookie skaters, while his 37 points ranks fifth in franchise history. He has posted three multi-goal games this season, the second-highest single-season total in Wild rookie history, and is one of just 12 rookies in team history to post a three-point game, doing so on Dec. 21 vs. Montreal (1-2=3). The left-shot center has played in 96 career NHL games across three seasons (2022-24) with Minnesota.

Originally drafted by the Wild in the first round (ninth overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, Rossi did not play hockey during the 2020-21 season due to complications stemming from COVID-19. He returned to the sport in 2021-22, playing in 63 games with the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League and leading the team with 35 assists and a plus-11 rating while ranking T-1st with 53 points (18-35=53), the highest rookie point total in team history. He made his NHL debut at Boston on Jan. 6, 2022. Prior to being drafted by Minnesota, he played two seasons (2018-20) with the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), earning the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player of the Year after leading the league in Canadian Hockey League in scoring (39-81=120) and assists in 2019-20.

The winner of the Masterton Trophy is selected by a poll among the 32 chapters of the PHWA at the end of the regular season. NHL writers first presented the trophy in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, who played for the Minnesota North Stars and exhibited to a high degree the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Masterton died on Jan. 15, 1968, as a result of head injuries suffered during a game.

Mason Shaw (2022-23), Jared Spurgeon (2021-22), Matt Dumba (2020-21), Alex Stalock (2019-20), Ryan Suter (2018-19), Matt Cullen (2017-18), Eric Staal (2016-17), Nate Prosser (2015-16), Devan Dubnyk (2014-15), Josh Harding (2013-14, 2012-13), Clayton Stoner (2011-12), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (2010-11), Guillaume Latendresse (2009-10), Kurtis Foster (2008-09), Aaron Voros (2007-08), Marian Gaborik (2006-07), Wes Walz (2005-06, 2000-01), Alexandre Daigle (2003-04), Dwayne Roloson (2002-03) and Richard Park (2001-02) were previously nominated for the award. Harding was named the 2013 recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy on June 14, 2013, to become the first player in Wild history to win a voted-on NHL Award. Dubnyk was also named the recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy on June 24, 2015 and Dumba was a finalist for the 2021 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.