Parise, Suter to Minn.; Flyers go to Plan B
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Parise, Suter to Minn.; Flyers go to Plan B
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers made huge offers, but in the end, they fell on deaf ears.
Defenseman Ryan Suter and left winger Zach Parise, the prizes in this year's free-agent pool, signed with the Minnesota Wild, a team that hasn't made the playoffs during the last four seasons.
Parise, a Minnesota native,and Suter each received 13-year deals for $98 million. That's an annual cap hit of $7.54 million, which is seventh in the NHL.
The Flyers are believed to have offered each player a 12-year contract in the $100 million neighborhood.
At 11 a.m., the Flyers had not heard from the Suter or Parise camps on Wednesday _ and that seemed like a negative sign.
On Twitter, some Flyers fans said it would be fitting for the duo to make the announcement that they were coming to America's birthplace _ Philadelphia _ on the Fourth of July.
Ah, dream on.
Suter and Parise are close friends and they conferred with each other during the free-agency period, fueling speculation they would be a package deal.
The speculation turned into reality.
They will try to help the Wild win their first playoff series since 2003.
The Flyers will turn their attention to trying to sign UFA defenseman Matt Carle. If he is commanding $5.5 million per year, the Flyers should pass.
Carle is talented and would help the Flyers, but in the long run, a multi-year deal with that kind of financial commitment might hamstring the club in the future.
Free-agent winger Shane Doan interests the Flyers, but he will stay in Phoenix if the franchise doesn't move. He said he will decide by July 9; by that time it should be known if the Coyotes are remaining in Phoenix.
The Flyers will try to deal for either Anaheim's Bobby Ryan ($5.1 million cap hit for next three years) or Columbus' Rick Nash ($7.8 million cap hit for next six years), a pair of high-scoring forwards who would give them some much-needed size on the wings.
(more coming)
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
Minnesota? May as well be Russia.— NYPHILLYPHAN- Well, it is nice to see Parise play for his home area :) I think the Flyers should go after Semin.... You wouldn't have to commit long term to him I would imagine and we have the money to sign him.....He is an underrated two way player...He played well against the Rangers...I would like to see him on the Flyers. Doan would be a fan favorite...i think either one would serve the Flyers purposes....As for Defense, the Flyers have a good defense when healthy as it stands even without Carle....I like Carle but he maybe overpriced. In that case, i say sign someone to fill the gap until a trade on a salary dump can be had or maybe another option comes up in the future...I just want the Flyers to sign a very good forward at this point..— feudal_nobility09
- Best result ever! Now go get Ryan and Yandle!!— rubberbullet
- DO NOT TRADE ONE OF THE YOUNG GUNS FOR NASH OR RYAN.— brio
- I sort of agree. I want no part of Nash whatsoever - between what you give up for him, what you pay him, and the likelihood of declining production from here on out, acquiring him would be a big mistake. But I'd give up B. Schenn for B. Ryan in a heartbeat, with appropriate prospects/picks going in either direction. Don't you pretty much hope that Schenn (20) will some day grow into the player that Ryan (25) is right now, and that you'll be able to keep him through his most productive years (which Ryan is probably just entering right now)?
— 1980 - Neither of these guys was ever going to sign with us. If Parise wouldn't go to the Rangers because he has always been a Devil, why would he think any differently about us? And Suter made it clear he didn't want to play here. Parise is from MN, Suter is from WI, so both are going home, more or less. More power to them! And while Jagr was a good signing last year, his groin isn't going to get any better at 41 than it was at 40. He was totaly MIA in the playoffs. So we need a D and a RW. Presumably Homer has his Plan B and Plan C... time to get to work, and quickly.— Richard S
- Congratulations to Suter and Parise; I wish them well. I think its great they went to a smaller market :) Sign Semin, underrated....yeah his effort is not consistent but maybe in a different environment it will be...he played well for Dale Hunter— feudal_nobility09
- When it comes to hockey, there's nothing small about the market in Minnesota. The level of hockey knowledge there is on a par with anything in Canada.
— icarus - Bet people in North jersey are gettin ready to jump off the bridge . . . Wait ... do they even have bridges there ???— ingy9
- Good! Signing them would have been tragic to the salary cap! Let this young team grow! Add defensive depth and pray Bryz gets it together!— edith bunker
- I am glad. I hate overpaying because of the few high end players available. Next year is a talented group. Weber and Cory Perry would be better for the same cash.— CanadianPhilly
- thats great. I am not surprised niether guy wants to play in front of a fan base that destroys the goallie when he has a garbage defense in front of him but somehow it is all the goallies fault 24/7. I dont get it. I am not a hockey expert but according to Clemente their D was ranked 20th last year, and they havent won a cup scoring a bazillion goals every year in 3 decades. What do you expect. Stop blaming the goallie and understand defense wins championships, not scorng a ton of goals, playing crappy defense, and then blaming the goallie.— CharlieGarner25
- Since you say your no hockey expert, ill clue you in. Non screened wrist shots from 50 feet away that go in are not the defenses fault. — Sidewinder7
- of course not, but most of the goals bryz gave up were not unblocked wrist shots from 50 feet. That was maybe 5% of the goals he gave up or less. 95% of the time there IS a guy in his way, blockin his view who also does NOT do anything to deflected the puck, thus screwing up his chance to see what is happening in front of him to evn do anything. Either that or a guy is STANING IN FRONT OF THE NET next to an attacker and does NOTHING to help bryz as he like watches guys skate in clean and take a free shot. That is flat out bad defense and most of his goals were a combination of failure to block shot by the D or failure to even be in the right place apparently. Most of the time its not his fault. 20th D is not good and it shows.
- Agreed, you're not a hockey expert (in fact, I'm pretty sure you're a self-professed Andy Reid expert, aren't you?). If you were, and if you actually watched the Flyers night in and night out like a lot of us do, you'd know that except for the months of October and March, the Flyers' goaltenders spent most of the season hovering somewhere between disappointing and abominable. There's plenty of blame to spread among the D-men, but in this case you're incorrect about the extent to which Bryz and Bob were responsible for the awful team defense: they were Public Enemies 1 and 2, no question. — 1980
