On July 4, 2012, NHL free agency was running rampant. Teams were going after top talent to add to their rosters in hopes of propelling them to championship glory. Two players that were on everyone's list were New Jersey Devils winger Zach Parise and Nashville Predators defenceman Ryan Suter. Both expressed the desire to play together on a squad, so whoever wanted to sign Parise, they would have to get the moolah to ink Suter. A lot of teams were reluctant due to the asking price for both and the dent it would make on their salary cap.
The Minnesota Wild took the risk and on that day, announced the signings of Parise and Suter to matching 13-year, $98 million contracts. The organization hoped that the pair would be the building block of a successful run.
The signings made sense since Parise grew up in neighboring Minneapolis and Suter is from neighboring Wisconsin. The Wild needed to make a splash. Since the North Stars packed up for Texas in the 90's, the State of Hockey was in flux, until the NHL decided it was best for the region and the league to place an NHL franchise inside that State of Hockey. The Minnesota Wild were born in 2000, and the hockey gods were joyous. However, since their inception, the Wild haven't exactly set the hockey landscape on fire at this point. The two signings gave the franchise hope. On July 10th of 2012, the organization held a press conference to introduce Parise and Suter to the Wild Nation.
Here's the situation, handing a hockey player a 13-year contract with a no movement clause is considered insane. Injuries will take a toll in a physical sport as hockey. Take a guess what happened? Parise and Suter started piling up on injuries. Also, due to the financial toll of the contracts, the Minnesota Wild couldn't just add more talent to make the team a playoff contender. The general manager who made the acquisitions, Chuck Fletcher, had his contract run out and not renewed in 2018.
On July 13, 2021, nine years and three days after the press conference to announce the signings of Parise and Suter, the Minnesota Wild made another announcement: That they were severing ties with both players and buying out their contracts with four years remaining.
It should have been a homecoming to remember. A moment to cherish for the State of Hockey that many Minnesotans would talk about for ages. Unfortunately, the clamp known as the salary cap in the NHL made this a gamble. A very, risky gamble. Also, don't feel bad for Parise and Suter. Zach has become a key contributor for the New York Islanders. So, has Ryan Suter with the Dallas Stars. The Wild has become a competitive force in the Western Conference since the buyout of the two contracts.
Ten years ago, the Minnesota Wild wanted to take the NHL by storm with two marquee signings. Everyone still talks about the impact of it.
It has unfortunately become a cautionary tale for future teams going after marquee talent in free agency. (Side note: The NHL needs to figure out a way to expand the cap more.)
(Sources: NHL.com, Wild.com, Wikipedia, Hockey-Reference.com)
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