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Marco Rossi Injury Update
Marco Rossi is still out with a lower body injury but he is very close to playing again and is now listed as day to day.
Rossi has been dealing with this injury since mid November. He went on injured reserve after a stretch of games where he tried to play through discomfort and the team decided that was not smart anymore. The staff called it a lower body issue and kept the details tight which is normal in the NHL. What is clear is that it has cost him around ten games and a full month of action at a time when he was settled as the top center.
The good news is that the language around his status has changed. Earlier updates described him as week to week which usually means at least a couple of weeks out and no exact target. Now head coach John Hynes says Rossi is day to day and could play on Sunday against the Boston Bruins. He skated with the group in an optional practice on Friday which is often the last step before a return. The Wild have already ruled him out for the Ottawa game on Saturday but see the second part of the back to back as realistic if he feels right after another skate.
From a numbers point of view Rossi was having a solid season before this setback. He had four goals and nine assists in 17 games while averaging more than 18 minutes per night which shows how much trust he had earned. His role covered first line center work plus power play time and he added hits and blocked shots so he was not only a skill piece. That mix made him important in both real life and fantasy hockey which is why this injury has drawn so much attention.
This is not the first physical issue for Rossi this season. Earlier in the year he missed time after a different lower body problem that ended a long consecutive games streak for him. The team seems determined not to let this new injury linger the same way. They have let him stay out until he can skate fully and handle contact instead of rushing him back for one game and losing him again. That approach explains why the original talk of a short absence turned into several weeks without him on the ice.
Rossi’s situation also links into a bigger story around his future. Minnesota used him as their number one center until this injury hit but then moved him in a huge trade with Vancouver for Quinn Hughes with Rossi now heading to the Canucks once healthy. Reports say Vancouver expects him to be ready soon and could ease him in with sheltered minutes to start while he finishes his recovery and learns a new system. So the update is not only about when he plays again but also where he plays his next NHL shift.
Right now the best way to frame it is simple. Marco Rossi is almost over his lower body injury and is back skating with the team. He is officially day to day and could return as early as Sunday if he gets through the next sessions with no setback. If that goes well the next step will be building his minutes back up whether that is in Minnesota for one last game or in Vancouver once the trade processing is complete.
Disclaimer:
The information provided is based on the latest available updates and may change as further details on Marco Rossi’s injury and recovery process emerge.
