Suter, a 36-year-old defenseman, signed for four years and $14.6 million ($3.65 million average annual value). He was an unrestricted free agent after he had the final four seasons of his 13-year, $98 million contract ($7.54 million AAV) bought out by the Minnesota Wild on July 13.
"It's been an emotional roller coaster for sure," Suter said Thursday. "When everything first happened, you're in shock. I received a call and didn't know what to say. I was in shock, couldn't believe it was happening. I know I've played solid and I know I have a lot more to give. So you go through that phase and as you go further along, you're just thinking about, this is a great opportunity for me. I get to go pick a team that has a chance to win a Stanley Cup.
"So you go from a low to the ultimate high as a player, as a professional athlete. You want to be wanted and it was very eye-opening to see all the options that we had. I just thought it was the right fit. I thought this would be a perfect fit for us."
Suter scored 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) in 56 regular-season games and had one assist in seven Stanley Cup Playoff games last season. He scored 369 points (55 goals, 314 assists) in 656 regular-season games with the Wild and is their leader among defensemen in points, assists, power-play points (138), rating (plus-62), shots on goal (1,225) and ice time (17,731:09). He scored 18 points (two goals, 16 assists) in 42 playoff games with Minnesota.
Suter averaged at least 26:42 of ice time per game in each of his first seven seasons with the Wild. His average of 29:25 per game in 2013-14 is the most by any player since the NHL began tracking ice time in 1997-98.
"Well, Ryan Suter's been one of the top defensemen in the NHL for many years," Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "That's a great veteran, has a great presence, he's a heavy-minute cruncher. He reminds me a lot of Chris Chelios when I was in Detroit, one of those guys who doesn't seem to age. He's the type of player that can be on a minute-and-a-half shift, come back to the bench, and in 10 seconds, the coach can tap him on the shoulder, he's ready to go again. He's a heavy body, he's got iron lungs, and he's a great skater.
