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.
- It isn't so much a matter of whiffing goalies or shot-blocking d-men. It's more a matter of how much time opponents have to shoot and the quality of the positions they have the time to shoot from. Watch any of the LA playoff wins this year and you'd have seen the difference.
— icarus - uh no, I am not wrong. I dont watch every game, as I am more of a casual hockey fan, but I did watch most of the replays and recaps and saw most of the "bad" goals flyers fans were complaing about and on MOST if not almost all there was BAD DEFENSE on the play which the professionals pointed out very clearly and also stated that IT WAS NOT BRYZ's FAULT. BRYZ USUALLY PLAYED OK BEHIND POOR DEFENSE. STOP BLAMING THE GOALLIE FOR EVERYTHING. I have to wonder if I know the game better then you and I Dont even watch it that much. come on.
- I really would rather shoot myself than agree with you but you are correct. The defense was the biggest issue and if you look at the playoffs the goalie was about 5% of the reason we lost. Fans are truly stupid, it's much easier for them to cop out and blame the goalie or coach than it is to see that the problems run much deeper than one guy. It's why they are fans and not GM's, thank god for that and we can only hope that Homer is a bit smarter than they are.
As predicted. Zerooooooo shock! now you dumb Philly reporters can start talking about bobby Ryan. Semin not coming here bc he is horrible in locker room and lazy. Get ready for Voracek , read, mezaros for Ryan.— fman727- I have not been this devastated since both Gomez and Drury went to the Rangers. And we all know how that worked out! In the long run, this deal works out well for the Flyers. It protects the Flyers from themselves. They need to stay the course. Suter would have been nice.— AreaMan
- Parise and Suter were just using the Flyers to drive up Minnesota's offer. There was no chance they'd sign here. Nash or Ryan are better fits anyway.— socfiend
- Thank goodness. The cap hits were absurd for very good--nowhere near great--players. We wouldn't have been able to do anything else. It's better to fill in with multiple pieces, but please do not pay more than $5 mil a year for Carle. Let him go if he commands more. Not worth it either. Great decision for the Flyers!— farside37
- do not trade our young players. future is more important.— wlgj
- 09: Semin? You're kidding, right? When free agency started on Sunday while watching the panel from TSN, Semin was described in these terms: loser, coach killer, and bad teammate. Yes, he'd be perfect for the Flyers. Get a clue dude....— BobbyD
- Semin's plus minus rating has been fantastic the last 5 years and that says something. i am aware of the locker room type issues but on the right team with the right coach; he could work out. How about you get a clue? I mentioned Doan. If Semin is deemed too much of a problem, you can sign Doan but you can't deny Semin's talent even if his consistency is questioned. He played well in the playoffs against the Rangers and with such a high plus minus rating; I think his consistency might be somewhat overblown b/c such a consistent statistic does reveal some kind of truth. Do you rely on TSN experts? How about you get a clue and start thinking for yourself and tell me something I don't already know about Semin. — feudal_nobility09
- I was talking off the top of my head. he has been top 5 at his position the last 4 years in plus/minus not five years.... — feudal_nobility09
- Yeah, I saw that too. In fact, ever since the draft, I think Semin is the only person in hockey who drew anything even close to a negative comment from any of the NHL Network commentators, who apparently feel that every trade, FA signing and draft pick by every team was a stroke of absolute genius, and that every GM of every team is indescribably brilliant.
Seriously, the NHL Network people talked a lot about Semin being a lousy teammate on and off the ice, and how he might benefit from going to a team with really strong leadership, which the Flyers honestly don't have (if they did, someone would have made Bryz stop acting like a Jersey Shore moron while they were filming the HBO series). What the heck, he's super-talented; if it doesn't work out, you can always trade him at the deadline to a team that needs instant offense.— 1980 - I would most definitely nail down Carle now. Start putting the final touches on the presentation to Shea Weber's agent next summer. Whatever Suter cost, Weber will cost even more.— schultz08
- At least Pittsburgh didn't get Parise or Suter. Now the Flyers can look at the Ryan, Nash, Carle, and Weber possibilities.— matthew76
- WHEW! $98M each! Ouch! I am so glad they didn't drop that kind of cash for either one of them, neither are worth it. Zach is a good player but not a franchise player, I would rather spend less on a Bigger forward like Bobby Ryan to replace JVR and Jagr. But lets wait until he becomes a UFA next year, same goes for Weber next year. I'd rather have Weber than Suter, bigger and better right handed shot.— LAFlyer
