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.
They didn't go to a competitor, and Minn won't do anything. Good deal. You have cap money to spend lock up Giroux.— Sidewinder7- No trades and no Carle to Pitt please.— jking91
Comment removed.- Not really troll. If you read all the posts in all the articles, I think that most Flyers fans didn't want Parise and it was 50/50 on Suter.— LAFlyer
- Effin BEST strategic move EVER by a GM. Homer knew neither wanted to come to Philly, so he maxed out 2 offers to drive up the price...knowing full well the Penqueens wouldn't match. Now, not only is Parise NOT in Pittsburgh, but both he and Suter are in the Western Conference. Shrewd move...and worthy of Executive of the Year honors. Go Flyers!— Harry Callahan
- I couldn't agree with you more. He got Parise out of NJ and pushed the asking price too high for the Pens, so now he is out of our conference. Homer already knew Suter wanted to stay in the West so make him such a high offer that he could use to bargain with other teams. Homer is a genius! — LAFlyer
- Minnesota is now stuck with these 2 for the next decade. Wait till the realize it was the players they played with made them who they were.
98 million for a 20 to 25 goal scorer , seriously.— joepir - Parise is a homegrown star. It's storybook. The merchandising success alone will pay his contract. I lived there. I know what I'm talking about. The MLB Twins are second only to the NY Yankees in merchandise revenue.
— icarus - What now all the star free agents in the NHL now will be going to the same team to have a super team like LeBrat did in the NBA with the Heat.— slade1955
- They should've had an announcement prime time tv special like the Miami Heat.— burholme
Newark Star Ledger: Who's most to blame for Zach Parise leaving?
http://www.nj.com/devils/index.ssf/2012/07/devils_hot_topic_whos_most_to.html- good job (f)liars!!! work hard, work hard!!! muck, muck, muck!!!— lanzascat
- at least we got a backup goalie that no team thought enough of to have him play in the nhl in the last two years...that is, other than us...— lanzascat
- Good news! Those contracts were crazy and would have burdened the Flyers (like the Ilya contract is)! Plan B; Carle and trade for Ryan (Hartnell and Rinaldo…maybe a 2nd rounder) and grab Semin for short 1-3 year deal— connorjr
