How will history judge the Parise and Suter contracts?
Probably not very favorably, but neither player shortchanged the Minnesota Wild one penny when it came to effort, dedication and setting a template for their teammates
Prior to signing Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to two of the largest and most impactful contracts in NHL history on Independence Day in 2012, the Minnesota Wild were stuck in the mushy middle of the NHL, not good enough to be taken seriously as a Stanley Cup contender and not bad enough to capitalize on high draft picks. Nine years and nine days later, they’re pretty much in the same spot, unable to escape the purgatory of mediocrity.
So by that measure, the Parise and Suter 13-year, $98 million megadeals that the Wild bought out Tuesday actually didn’t move the needle all that much one way or the other. Like the Wild themselves, they weren’t bad and they weren’t great. The only real impact they had was on the NHL itself. Those two contracts were Exhibit A and B in the owners negotiating term limits on deals during the 2012-13 lockout that wiped out half the season. And because it took four days for the deals to get done, they also inspired the free agent ‘courting period’ prior to free agency that is no longer in effect.
It all started when Parise and Suter, the crown jewels of the free agent market in 2012, began talking after free agency opened. The more they talked, the more they thought the idea of playing together was a good one. Parise tried to convince Suter to come to New Jersey and Suter was selling Parise on Nashville. They had no common ground on either option, but they did have more than 80,000 square miles of common ground in the state of Minnesota. Parise, whose father played for the North Stars, was born there, and Suter’s wife and family are from Bloomington. Once the Wild realized they could get both players, they put on a full-court press. “There was much less risk agreeing to the offers than in not agreeing to them,” then-Wild GM Chuck Fletcher said at the time.
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Well, history is probably going to go ahead and disagree with him on that. The Wild enjoyed three 100-point seasons during Parise’s and Suter’s tenures, but never finished higher than second in their division and won only two playoff rounds. Suter finished second in Norris Trophy voting and was a first-team all-star in the first year of the deal, then finished in the top 10 in Norris voting four more times. Parise, in large part because of injuries, was never able to find the scoring touch he had with the Devils and, with the exception of the first season of the deal (which was only 48 games because of the lockout), did not once play a full campaign for the Wild.
In the end, it seems the Wild were unable to separate the two contracts, even when it came to buying them out. This day was actually probably coming from the time the ink dried on them. Parise alwasy seemed like the more likely candidate, but apparently the Wild were afraid of the possibility of Suter declining as well.
So there you have it. A couple of big-time duds, right? No Cups, no sustainable success and very little improvement to show for nine years of Parise and Suter.
The only problem with that line of thinking is that it’s dead wrong. In the long list of bad contracts in NHL history, there are literally hundreds that would finish ahead of these two. And that is because, while the results might not have been there, neither Parise nor Suter shortchanged the Wild one penny when it came to effort, determination and selflessness. To toss these deals onto the NHL’s historical contract scrap heap would be hugely unfair to both players.
Since Suter signed the deal, only Drew Doughty has logged more ice time than he has (and the difference is just a little over 30 total minutes, which is mind-boggling) and no player has averaged more than the 27:07 Suter has per game. He plays in all-situations and has excelled in shutdown and penalty-killing roles. Offensively, he has averaged 41 points per season and twice scored 50-plus points. Last season was the first one in which he failed to record at least 20 points. And how does one quantify how much Suter’s heavy lifting and willingness to go against the best forwards in the league contributed to the development and success of the likes of Matt Dumba, Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin?
As for Parise, injuries were a huge factor in his lack of production and success. But when he was healthy and playing, he was very good for Minnesota. And that was no more apparent than in 2018-19, when he had a huge rebound season and scored 61 points. That came after he missed half the previous season with back surgery and then was knocked out of the playoffs with a broken sternum. Both Parise and Suter were low-maintenance, high-energy and reliable. They did their bit to sell the game to the masses and were always willing, if not always able.
So now the Wild will be out from under both contracts, saving a combined $10.3 million in cap space next season, before the savings become negligible for what would have been the final three years of the deal. As for Parise and Suter, they’ve done OK. Both players had collected $88 million of the $98 million for which they signed and will receive $6.7 million of the remaining $10 million in their buyouts. Basically, all each of them has to do is make $3.3 million in the next four seasons in order to be made whole. They will do that and more, likely in Year 1.
The Wild, meanwhile, have put themselves in a better spot for the expansion draft, where they would have been forced to protect both players because of their no-move clauses. The short-term cap space will give them some breathing room in their attempts to re-sign Calder Trophy winner Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala. But do they now swing for the fences and go for the offensive center they so desperately need? Do they make a bid for Jack Eichel?
Whichever way they go, the Wild undoubtedly believe they’re in a much better financial position without the likes of Parise and Suter. But regardless of who replaces them, they won’t find two better people or competitors than the ones they bought out.