The New Jersey Devils could use the seventh-overall pick on Marco Rossi.
The New Jersey Devils have another top-ten pick in this year’s NHL Draft. This one might be the most important since 2015 when the Devils blew it with the Pavel Zacha selection. Sure, he’s a decent player on the team, but the Devils left about 10 All Stars on the table when they took Zacha 6th overall. Now, in yet another unworldly deep draft, the Devils once again have a top-seven pick. There is enough talent in this draft that a dozen teams can come out with a franchise-changing star.
One of the players who has a lot of analysts split is Austrian center, Marco Rossi. A lot of what keeps people hesitating on him is his size. He plays center, but he stands at only 5’9. The Devils are already a relatively small team. However, for someone with his size, he does not play small at all.
Rossi was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Ontario Hockey League this past season. It’s hard to argue with it. Rossi put up 120 points for the Ottawa 67s. Does that team sound familiar? Of course it does, because the Devils already have Nikita Okhotyuk, Kevin Bahl, Graeme Clarke, and former prospect Mitchell Hoelscher all played for the 67s this past season. The Devils have seen Rossi play a lot, and they have to have liked what they saw. He scored 120 points over 56 games. For those not so great with the math, that’s more than two points per game. Cole Perfetti was the closest in scoring, and he was nine points behind.
The Devils would be getting a great player, but how great can he be? Here are five reasons to fall in love with Marco Rossi.