Scenario 5: #3 Tim Stützle #5 Marco Rossi
Grade: B+
Ottawa selects the best player left at #3 in Tim Stützle and proceeds to the 5th selection where they opt for the undersized Centre and Ottawa 67’s product, Marco Rossi. Rossi had an outstanding season in the OHL last year statistically but he’s still a player that that possesses some risk if you see him as the 5th best player available. For Ottawa, in this scenario they choose to keep developing Tim Stützle as a winger and probably don’t view his potential to play centre as a certainty. Therefore they make sure they get Rossi as the “insurance policy” leaving the draft with at least a hope to address their greatest area of concern down the middle. Rossi is a small stature, husky C with a low center of gravity. He certainly has the ability to dominate at the OHL level and plays a solid 2 way, reliable game.
Marco Rossi's hands are ridiculous. Call it 34 goals and 105 points in game #50. #2020NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/nfYMYFVKLu
— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) February 25, 2020
Some wonder about his ability to translate his dominance over OHL competition and systems to the NHL level, given his overall size and lack of speed. Rossi is not the most fluent of skaters but does possess an arsenal of skills that makes him a one of a kind, unique talent upfront. I think his fighting spirit will do him well but I do wonder about his ceiling a little much for a complete sense of satisfaction with this scenario. Surely Rossi and Stützle together on a line seems unlikely as well so for this one I think it’s definitely down the line in terms of my hopes/dreams from the draft. That being said, this scenario is still something that I’d be happy with from an Ottawa perspective.