Revisiting the Two Most Important Signings in Minnesota Wild History

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Minnesota Wild, Ryan Suter #20 and Zach Parise #11 (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

It was the 2011-2012 season, the Wild had just missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. There was a lack of high-end elite talent on the team, which was so clearly evident. Other than the likes of Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, and Kyle Brodziak, the three leading scorers for the Wild, there was little to no depth.

The franchise was in a state of uncertainty. Not a single player on the Wild had hit 25 goals or 55 points, there was a much-needed change. The Wild were frankly desperate for anything to revamp the fanbase, team, and the State of Hockey. Minnesota had not had a high-end elite player since Marián Gáborík.

Ryan Suter and Zach Parise were that change.

They created a new kind of excitement. A fresh start and a chance to grow the team to being a perennial playoff team that would hopefully develop the promising roster into a contender.

Zach Parise, a Minnesota native, returned to the State of Hockey after spending seven seasons with the New Jersey Devils, which saw him develop into one of the league’s most explosive and gritty wingers in the NHL and put him atop of the list among the best free agents available in the summer of 2012. Parise amassed 194 goals, 216 assists for a total of 410 points in New Jersey while also having a prominent role in helping the New Jersey Devils make it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011-2012.

Minnesota hockey ran in the family as his father J.P. Parise played for the Minnesota North Stars, and just like J.P., Zach is a talented hockey player.

Ryan Suter, a Wisconsin native, decided to play a lot closer to home. Ryan Suter’s wife was born in Minnesota, which could have played an immense impact on his decision to join Zach Parise and ultimately agree to be a member of the Minnesota Wild. Suter, who was a first-pairing defenseman on the backend for Nashville, just came off a career year which helped place himself atop of the list for available free agents. Suter, accumulated 38 goals, 200 assists for 238 points in seven seasons for Nashville. Suter, a stay at home defenseman, was and still is known for logging north of 25 minutes per night, and his stay at home defensive style and ability to thread passes/shots for well-crafted deflections on the powerplay, a perfect compliment for Zach Parise’s forte.

Bleacher Report had Zach Parise as the #1 LW UFA and Ryan Suter as the #1 D UFA for the 2012 Free Agency Period. There was no doubt that Parise and Suter were atop the Free Agency Class, hence the variety of offers from several NHL teams.

There is no doubt why Parise and Suter were both prized possessions in the summer of 2012, their resumes speak for themselves. Their experience, leadership, and character were among the reasons why the Wild pursued Parise and Suter so heavily. They both were elite-caliber players looking for a lucrative contract, and inevitably shared the face of the franchise.

July 4th, 2012 was the day the franchise-altering signing was made to secure the two biggest free agents in their respective positions. The Minnesota Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter both to identical 13-year, 98 million contracts. At the time, Minnesota General Manager Chuck Fletcher, explained it well, “This is a great day in the history of the Minnesota Wild”.

Their Time In Minnesota So Far

Minnesota Wild, Ryan Suter #20 and Zach Parise #11. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

In the eight years that Parise and Suter have been members of the Minnesota Wild, they have been in the playoffs six times, it will be seven this season if the Wild can beat the Vancouver Canucks in the “Play-In Series” (read more on that series here) with the winner of the series moving on to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Starting with Zach Parise (2012-2015)

From 2012-2015, Zach Parise was elite offensively and still brought positive value defensively. He was playing at an elite level, exactly what the Wild had desired to receive from Parise. Parise was effectively scoring, creating offense, and was efficiently preventing offense in his own end.

Zach Parise (2016-2019)

From 2016-2019, Parise was still consistently good offensively, but his defense has suffered. Even now, Parise’s defense has frankly not been very good. It could be signs of regression where he needs to sacrifice his defense to still produce at a good enough level offensively, or it could just be a couple of difficult defensive years.

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Parise has accumulated 192 goals, 190 assists for a total of 382 points. Parise also has 14 goals, 17 assists, and 31 points in 36 playoff games.

Zach Parise is known for his gritty play around the net where he sacrifices his body to make plays over and over, he is a hard forechecker and is an unbelievable deflector, with his hand-eye coordination near next to none.

Parise on average misses 10-15 games each season due mostly to injuries. Although Parise has dealt with a lot of injuries, when he is on the ice, he is an elite player and one of the best for the Wild.

There are so many good moments since Parise became a member of the Minnesota Wild. One of the best was the hat trick against Colorado where Parise’s first goal was after he got leveled, nothing more applicable than the “Take a hit to make a play”.

What about Parise’s game-tying goal against the Blues in game one where Parise scored with 22.7 seconds left to send it to overtime? (where the Blues eventually won thanks to Jake Allen who had 50 saves, but we don’t talk about that.)

Although, never forget Parise’s game-tying goal in the 2010 Olympics Gold Medal Game.

Parise, a gifted goal scorer, has so many big game goals. Parise is one of the best in the league as well when it comes to his unbelievable deflections from impossible angles.

Even though his defense has suffered in the past several seasons, Parise is still a consistent goal scorer and provides positive value and is an impactful player for the Wild.

Ryan Suter (2012-2015)

From 2012-2014, Suter struggled, but he finally got his game back in 2015. Although he was still producing in terms of points, Suter still struggled offensively and defensively.

Ryan Suter (2016-2019)

Analytically, Suter has been phenomenal since 2016, has been effectively creating offense, meanwhile still preventing offense in his own end.

Suter has amassed 52 goals and 298 assists for 350 points in his tenure with the Wild to date. He also has 2 goals and 14 assists for 16 points in 39 playoff games.

Suter is known for being an offensive defenseman, powerplay specialist, logging north of 25 minutes a night, and being a shut-down defender. While I can’t agree with this for his whole tenure as a member of the Wild, he has fit that description since 2015.

He has received criticism, for his lack of physicality, there are positives and negatives to Suter’s style of play. It is good to have a shut-down type defenseman like Suter and a physical type defenseman like Dumba.

Fan Poll Results

Minnesota Wild, Ryan Suter #20 and Zach Parise #11. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

As a lot of you know, I had a three-question poll up on twitter for 24 hours regarding Parise and Suter. I wanted to hear what fellow Wild fans thought about Parise and Suter.

I was very surprised by the poll results. It appears that Zach Parise and Ryan Suter have been underwhelming and disappointing to many. I am even more surprised that over half would erase the Parise and Suter signing entirely if it was possible.

Final Thoughts

We as fans have to come to terms with the brutal reality that Parise and Suter are elite-caliber players, but neither are superstars. Zach Parise is not a Patrick Kane, Alex Ovechkin, Artemi Panarin, or Nikita Kucherov caliber winger. Ryan Suter is not an Erik Karlsson, Roman Josi, Alex Pietrangelo, or Victor Hedman caliber defenseman. I think Wild fans have the bar too high.

Fellow Gone Puck Wild contributor Brandon Quast explains that Parise and Suter have and have not lived up to his expectations. He is on the fence as:

On one hand, our team would be a mess without them but on the other hand neither of them have delivered a Cup yet.- Brandon Quast

Gone Puck Wild Site Expert Lake Martin explained:

The Parise and Suter signings reignited the franchise. Gáborík had left just a few years prior and we were reeling as a team. Parise and Suter were key components of a team that strived to make playoff runs. The reality of the situation was, just adding Parise and Suter wasn’t enough to usurp the powerhouses of the time: Chicago, Vancouver, Boston. Although they built up a solid base around Parise and Suter (younger versions of Coyle, Nino, Granlund, Zucker, Brodin, Dumba, Spurgeon), it wasn’t enough production they needed to make serious Cup contentions every single season. And that should not be Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s fault.

I for sure wouldn’t erase the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signing, they have had a prominent role in leading the Wild to a six-year playoff tenure. Granted it was unsuccessful but was better than seeing a bottom team year after year. Parise and Suter have been a key part of the franchise and I think it is ridiculous to put sole blame on them for the lack of playoff success.

All Stats and Information via Evolving Hockey, NHL.com, Hockey Reference, CapFriendly & Bleacher Report

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July 4th, 2012 is one of the most important days in Minnesota Wild History with two Franchise Altering Acquisitions: Signing of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.