DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji profiles Austrian forward Marco Rossi today:
Although born in Feldkirch, Austria, NHL Central Scouting listed him among the North American skaters in its final rankings because he played for the Ottawa 67’s in the Ontario Hockey League the past two seasons.
But Rossi didn’t just play in the OHL, he dominated it with 120 points (39-81-120) in 56 games and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Player. Rossi is only the second European import to win that award.
In its final rankings, released April 8, NHL Central Scouting had Rossi sixth among North American skaters, with only Lafrenière, Byfield, Jamie Drysdale, Jake Sanderson and Cole Perfetti ahead of him.
When the OHL and other Canadian Hockey League teams canceled the remaining regular-season games on March 12 and then the 2020 Memorial Cup on March 23, Rossi returned home to Austria.
With an extended offseason looming, Rossi decided to make the most of it.
“My main goal was getting more faster, more speed, more explosiveness. Just getting quicker,” Rossi said during an NHL prospects Zoom call last week. “I started to do that right away when I came back from Canada in mid-March. Me and my personal coach started to work on that right away, because that’s my goal, to be much quicker. He did a really good job. We’ve been working for 6-7 months. It’s going really good. You can see a big improvement off the ice, on the ice. I’ve never felt that good on the ice, especially my body. I got so much better with my body. It was really good before, and now it’s so much better.”
