NHL Draft: 5 Reasons To Fall In Love With Marco Rossi
By Nick Villano
5. Rossi Could Play In The NHL Tomorrow
For this one, we have to thank TSN’s Craig Burton through the New Jersey Devils, who did their own profile on Rossi a few weeks ago. Burton makes it pretty clear that Rossi is in an elite class in this draft.
"“Marco, to me like Alexis Lafreniere, I think they’re the two players that are ready to come into the NHL and contribute in the 2020-21 season.” -TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button"
That’s not something the Devils would expect when they found out they were picking 7th overall. Usually, those players take one and maybe two more years to develop either in juniors, in college, or overseas before they are ready to play in the NHL. Last year’s 7th-overall pick Dylan Cozens likely makes the Buffalo Sabres next season. We know what Quinn Hughes did this season after one year playing for Michigan. Then there are players like Lias Andersson, who needed a couple of years to develop but is now one of the better prospects in the world.
Rossi could very well jump all these players by making the league in year one. The questions for this involves where the Devils would put him. He’s currently excelling as a center, but the Devils are stacked with young talent that needs to play there. Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Michael McLeod, and Pavel Zacha are all former 1st-round picks that expect to take those positions, on top of Travis Zajac, this upcoming season.
Still, seeing Rossi compete immediately has to be a draw for a Devils team that’s devoid of talent in some very important spots. Right now, they are expecting one of Jesper Boqvist, Nolan Foote, Janne Kuokkanen, or Joey Anderson to take up one of the top-six winger spots. Hopefully, that gets fixed through free agency or trades, but the roster right now seems to call for that. Adding Rossi right away in a big role could jump start the Devils out of the rebuild.