Ryan Suter Is WASHED!
Has any NHL player been bought out twice in their career? The answer is no, but Ryan Suter certainly has a shot to be the first. If we learned anything from the Stars being eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s that Ryan Suter is totally washed. That guy has absolutely nothing left. At this stage of Suter’s career, that man just cannot be a first pair defenseman.
You never want to put the blame on one player for losing a series but you may be able to do so here. If you were a Stars fan watching Suter play hockey it probably made you contemplate sticking a fork in your eye. Let me just show some quick highlights from the series because he was just completely awful.
"Ryan Suter is not facing the puck. He doesn't take body nor stick of Marchessault." pic.twitter.com/HIO74QGaem
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 26, 2023
Once again, I'm just glad Ryan Suter is having fun out there pic.twitter.com/ehxg4IWkM5
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) May 28, 2023
Miro Heiskanen hitting his teammate and Ryan Suter skating away from the guy with the puck is not ideal pic.twitter.com/s0w2JrMjDb
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) May 28, 2023
It truly felt like Suter was on the ice for every VGK goal. The crazy part about that is he’s paired with Miro Heiskanen who is constantly putting out fires and has proven to be one of the best defensemen in the game. The fact that Suter has been this bad while playing with Heiskanen should only speak more volumes.
There is serious talk about Suter being bought out by the Stars. Elliotte Friedman talked about it on the 32 thoughts show:
The character arc of Ryan Suter is nothing if not FASCINATING:
— The Sota Pod (@SOTApod) May 31, 2023
-Revered as a hero for signing with #mnwild on 7/4/12
-Bought out by Bill Guerin 9 yrs into his 13-yr $98M contract
-Signed to a “discount” of 4×3.65 just weeks later #TexasHockey
-Bought out again?! @FriedgeHNIC pic.twitter.com/r9cvghGs9B
Frank Seravalli then followed up with his column on Daily Faceoff:
“Contract: 2 more seasons, $3.65 million AAV”
“Buyout Structure: 2 seasons at $733,333 followed by 2 seasons at $1,433,333”
“Scoop: There is a heavy dose of recency bias here, but if it happens, Suter would become the first player in the NHL’s salary cap era to be bought out twice. The Wild are paying him $833,333 until 2029. Suter’s four-year term in Dallas never really made sense given that he was 36 at the time. His game noticeably dropped in the playoffs, making him a liability for the Stars. A buyout would represent nearly a $3 million saving each of the next two seasons, plus two more seasons when the cap should theoretically increase in a significant way. Nonetheless, Suter still played north of 20 minutes a night this season, the Stars don’t have anyone in the organization ready to take his job, and Pete DeBoer clearly trusts veterans. Don’t hold your breath on this one, but the possibility can’t be dismissed out of hand.”
The Stars have to do something here. The Jamie Benn / Tyler Seguin contracts are already too punitive moving forward. Ryan Suter may as well be added to that list. I can’t see how they just run things back with Suter being another year older set to turn 39 in the middle of next season. Suter may very well become the first player bought out twice by the end of that contract. Dallas has a really good hockey team and are straddle with some of the worst deals in the league.
Suter probably just needs to retire but there is no need to since he’s under contract. Keep cashing those checks!
