Ryan Suter and Zach Parise screwed over the Minnesota Wild
On July 4, 2012, the Minnesota Wild buried their own grave. That very day, they could kiss their championship hopes goodbye for the next 20-30 years.
On that fateful day, the Wild signed both Ryan Suter and Zach Parise to massive contracts; both contracts were signed for 13 years and $98 million apiece, per Spotrac. Now, they are paying the repercussions of that rancid decision, and it’s only getting worse.
After spending seven years with the Predators and Devils, the Minnesota Wild decided it was time to turn their franchise around. That decision couldn’t have become a worse one looking back at it, but after multiple 60-plus point seasons from Zach Parise and shutdown defensive seasons from Ryan Suter, the Wild invested.
Parise and Suter ended up being, well, let’s say, underwhelming for their contracts. Parise only achieved a high of 62 points and 33 goals in his time with the Wild. For Suter, he ended up being over a 30-point scorer with the Wild almost every year.
He even ended up tallying 51 points in a season, but for almost $100 million over a 13-year period, only 62 and 51 points in a season isn’t going to cut it money-wise.
The play wasn’t the only thing that the duo screwed over the Wild with. It was also the money over a period of time. The Minnesota Wild have been in the death of all pro sports, something we like to call: Mediocrity.
After Minnesota eventually bought out Suter and Parise’s contracts in July 2021, the money really started to hit them hard.
Last season alone, Minnesota was forced to eat $12.7 million from the buyout of their contracts. Now, these next two seasons (both crucial years for signing long-term extensions), it will have to pay almost $15 million; $15 million is a ton of money in the NHL, but combine that with only 15 and 10 players signed on the roster for the next two years, respectively, the Wild could be starting to look like a bottom tier team.
Not average, but bottom.
That $15 million could be going towards helping the defense they so desperately need, to find another superstar to actually contend or even smooth out the rest of their roster. All of that money going towards Suter and Parise is screwing over the organization for their future. Next thing you know their star players leave because they have no help.
At the time, this signing was questionable. Now, it is a downright disaster for the Minnesota Wild. It is going to take years to compete at a high level. This contract set their Stanley Cup window back by 20-plus years.
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