Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Was Dual Buyout Necessary?

July 14, 2021, 1:33 PM ET [35 Comments]
Dan Wallace
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Yesterday's bombshell that officially ended the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter era in Minnesota, created quite a stir and now we enter the aftermath. It is not like the Wild and Parise and Suter parted ways and everyone moves on. For the players themselves, yes they do move on and with significant amounts of Craig Leipol's money coming their way for the next eight years. But what about the Wild as an organization? We will be talking about Suter and Parise for years to come, and worse they will be long gone from the State of Hockey.

The cap repercussions are more significant as yes the Wild get significant relief this upcoming season of better than $10M but the following 3 seasons will be much tougher to swallow. The final four are much more tolerable at $833K each year but this is all times two.

Now there is always the possibility that Guerin can somehow swing a future deal to offload some of that but the is a whole other conversation for sometime down the road.

The fact that Parise was bought out was not really a shock, but Suter that one caught everyone by surprise including Ryan himself. According to The Atheltic's, Michael Russo, Suter hung up on Guerin when he called.

Suter has been the rock of the Wild blueline for the past nine seasons since he and Parise signed identical 13-year deals back in July 2012. Suter is the franchise leader in assists and points by a defenseman and will be very difficult to replace.

Zach ranks 3rd all time in franchise goals (199) and points(400). His role had diminished significantly this season and the writing was in the wall for Zach. He was almost dealt the season prior at the deadline to the Islanders, but that fell through as the deadline passed.

I would expect that Lou Lamoriello, will have interest in Zach once more once free agency opens on July 28th, which makes perfect sense, given their ties from the Devils. Another intriguing landing spot for Parise would be Seattle as his former UND head coach, Dave Hakstol, is at the helm of the expansion Kraken.

Suter hitting the market becomes much more interesting as he could be a game changer for a team looking to bolster their blueline with leadership. Suter's play on the ice has not declined much if at all, especially when he is playing more manageable minutes. That is what makes this part of the dual buyout a bit tougher to A. understand, and B. Deal with the cap hit for eight more seasons.

So we will be talking about Parise and Suter for a long time but now they will be playing elsewhere and being paid by the Wild.

Let that sink in a bit.

Summer of Wild and that it is...
Join the Discussion: » 35 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Dan Wallace
» Walker Up, Goligoski On LTIR
» Wild Look To Tighten Up The D Zone
» New Season Of Hope For Wild
» Kirill Gets The "A"
» Zuccarello Extended For 2 Years