-Vintage Canuck- Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 He remains very upbeat about the long-term commitments that he made: The Minnesota Wild made a big splash last summer when they signed defenseman Ryan Suter and forward Zach Parise to matching 13-year, $98 million contracts. After missing the playoffs for four consecutive seasons, that move renewed their commitment to win the Stanley Cup and singled out those two newcomers as the people they felt would lead them there. Minnesota’s 2013 campaign ended with a shift first-round exit at the hands of the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks and given the increased expectations, it was seen as something of a disappointment. All the same, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher doesn’t have any regrets about the trust they’ve put in Suter and Parise. “We were fortunate to sign both Zach and Ryan,” Fletcher told NHL.com. “Looking back now, in hindsight with a year removed, I can’t even say how lucky we are that we did sign them. “You hear horror stories of all these big free-agent signings that don’t pan out, and we signed arguably the best defenseman in the League and one of the best goal scorers in the League. Both players lived up to expectations. They’re great people.” To Fletcher’s point, while the team didn’t get far in the playoffs, Parise and Suter did largely perform as advertised. That’s especially true for Suter, who averaged a league-leading 27:16 minutes per game and was a Norris Trophy finalist. At the same time, those long-term contract horror stories don’t always start with the first season of a deal. After all, Parise is 29 years old and Suter will celebrate his 29th birthday on Jan. 21. With them signed through 2024-25, it’s not hard to see them being liabilities in the final years of their contracts. Still, right now the Wild have a team with a strong core and some young, up-and-coming talent. And if they can manage to win the Stanley Cup over the next few years, then their signing of Parise and Suter could be credited as the turning point that led them to new heights. http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/11/a-year-later-wild-gm-feels-fortunate-to-have-parise-suter/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightHawkSniper Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Well, at least they wont bolt to the KHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absent Canuck Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Tell us in 3 years when Parise is 32 and they have 9 years left on contracts they can no longer amnesty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 The Wild won one more playoff game than us last season. Who would have thought that a couple years ago? Definitely huge pieces for their team. I would imagine they only get better now that they're settled in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Subject makes for interesting, worthwhile debate. DEFINITELY too early to render a verdict. Great players to be sure, but in both cases, it'll mostly come down to their health holding up. If they stay healthy for 8 seasons('til next CBA), the wild should be laughing. Probably not the sort of town to attract big stars, which may have forced Fletcher's decision, last summer. Could end up with a TBay situation, however. A couple poor seasons, & you possibly end up drafting a couple more stars(Stammer, Hedman, even Drouin)..If suter or Parise start wearing down, they won't have amnesty buyouts to turn to, like TBay. So much ink spilled out east about 9 more yrs of Lu at 5.3 mill. You don't hear much about these two(albeit younger players), & their dozen yrs at 7+ mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Where's Wellwood Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Of course they're good now, but Wild fans will be hating those contracts within 5 or 6 years when Parise and Suter are in their mid 30's, with a ~7.5 mill cap hit. And if they retire, the Luongo rule will hit the Wind hard. Though the cap will be much higher by then. And who knows what the contract situation will be when the CBA expires and the rules are retroactively changed again. Could help teams with these monster contracts, or screw them over even further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangelos Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Suter can probably still be an effective top 4 D into his late 30s but Parise will probably be on the decline in 4 seasons or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Of course they're good now, but Wild fans will be hating those contracts within 5 or 6 years when Parise and Suter are in their mid 30's, with a ~7.5 mill cap hit. And if they retire, the Luongo rule will hit the Wind hard. Though the cap will be much higher by then. And who knows what the contract situation will be when the CBA expires and the rules are retroactively changed again. Could help teams with these monster contracts, or screw them over even further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drouin Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 The Wild won one more playoff game than us last season. Who would have thought that a couple years ago? Definitely huge pieces for their team. I would imagine they only get better now that they're settled in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakrami Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 No, he is going to say this is the most stupid 196 million decision he has made. I am sure he still wants to keep his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BedBeats™2.0 Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Subject makes for interesting, worthwhile debate. DEFINITELY too early to render a verdict. Great players to be sure, but in both cases, it'll mostly come down to their health holding up. If they stay healthy for 8 seasons('til next CBA), the wild should be laughing. Probably not the sort of town to attract big stars, which may have forced Fletcher's decision, last summer. Could end up with a TBay situation, however. A couple poor seasons, & you possibly end up drafting a couple more stars(Stammer, Hedman, even Drouin)..If suter or Parise start wearing down, they won't have amnesty buyouts to turn to, like TBay. So much ink spilled out east about 9 more yrs of Lu at 5.3 mill. You don't hear much about these two(albeit younger players), & their dozen yrs at 7+ mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madness Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 The Suter signing wasn't as bad but the Parise signing was awful. He's not producing enough to have that contact, he never produced that much. Plus he's getting older. Suter will still be productive into the later years of his contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edlerberry Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 ORLY. The Suter signing wasn't as bad but the Parise signing was awful. He's not producing enough to have that contact, he never produced that much. Plus he's getting older. Suter will still be productive into the later years of his contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madness Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 ORLY. Umm... he's a 5 times 30 goal scorer (6 if the lockout didn't shorten last season) - thats every year except his rookie year. He scored 45 goals back when the Devils actually had a team and he was the go to man (similar to where he is in Minnie now) He's a hard forechecker, forces turnovers, has a legitimate wrist shot and also has a nose for the net 45 goal scorer, did i mention that already? Saying he "never produced that much" is crazy. "he's getting older" is also crazy, seeing how this is literally his first contract as a UFA, and he will finish next season when he's 29. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 It's great to see lots of US teams(especially) get saddled with these 7, 8 mill cap-contracts. Giroux in Philly is another. After another wave or two of star draftees re-upping, there won't be enough teams bidding for key(or even mid-range stars), & salaries may fall back a bit. If the US economy does another downturn, it might really get tight for cap-space. Not only will MG be poised to get some key FA's at reasonable hits-perhaps more importantly, if any of our own prospects break through & become league-wide(top-10) talents, it may become much easier to re-sign them to affordable cap-hits. For Van's sake, the ideal situation may be the cap climbing to about 70 mill, & hovering there for a half-decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Kane Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 The Suter deal will be a decent one but the Parise deal will haunt the Wild in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 ... So much ink spilled out east about 9 more yrs of Lu at 5.3 mill. You don't hear much about these two(albeit younger players), & their dozen yrs at 7+ mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Especially if Coyle, Granlund and Brodin play great. Not to forget Niederreiter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 DP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absent Canuck Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 ORLY. Umm... he's a 5 times 30 goal scorer (6 if the lockout didn't shorten last season) - thats every year except his rookie year and a year he only played 13 games. He scored 45 goals back when the Devils actually had a team and he was the go to man (similar to where he is in Minnie now) He's a hard forechecker, forces turnovers, has a legitimate wrist shot and also has a nose for the net 45 goal scorer, did i mention that already? Saying he "never produced that much" is crazy. "he's getting older" is also crazy, seeing how this is literally his first contract as a UFA, and he will finish next season when he's 29. $7.5m cap hit compared to what? Corey Perry? Perry has 3x 30 goal seasons(in 9 seasons, one was 50 mind you), has played in more seasons despite being younger (Parise went to university). He just signed for a cap hit of $8.6m. Obviously the cap hit is higher cause his contract doesn't back dive, but it is what it is. Cap hits for star players have been inflated by the free agent frenzy of recent years, and his contract is exactly what he's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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