Parise, Suter to have contracts bought out by Wild

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter each will have the final four seasons of his contract bought out by the Minnesota Wild.

Parise and Suter, who each signed a 13-year, $98 million contract ($7.54 million average annual value) on July 4, 2012, can sign with any team when NHL free agency begins July 28.
"Today, it's really tough to look back on everything from a hockey standpoint, but I'm not [going to] sit here and say I didn't enjoy it, because I did," Parise told The Athletic. "It's just unfortunate this is where we are today. ... This wasn't part of the plan when Ryan and I signed here, I didn't think."
Parise, a 36-year-old forward, scored 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 45 games this season. He scored 400 points (199 goals, 201 assists) in 558 regular-season games with Minnesota and is third in goals and points, seventh in games played, and eighth in assists in Wild history. He is their leader in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 37 points (16 goals, 21 assists) in 44 games.
Suter, a 36-year-old defenseman, scored 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) in 56 regular-season games and had one assist in seven playoff games. He scored 369 points (55 goals, 314 assists) in 656 regular-season games with the Wild and is their leader among defenseman in points, assists, power-play points (138), rating (plus-62), shots on goal (1,225) and ice time (17,731:09).
Suter averaged at least 26:42 of ice time per game in each of his first seven seasons with Minnesota. 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. He scored 18 points (two goals, 16 assists) in 42 playoff games.
"We just felt like doing both was, it was the right time," Wild general manager Bill Guerin said. "Like I said, I didn't just wake up this morning and try to decide to do it. It's been a process probably about six or eight months. And there's been a lot of discussions, a lot of conversations over it, and on both of them. We know how much they've meant to this team and to the city. So like I said, these are not great choices to make, these are not great decisions to make, but you have to make them and you stand by them."

The Wild (35-16-5) were third in the eight-team Honda West Division this season and qualified for the playoffs, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games in the Stanley Cup First Round.
Minnesota made the playoffs in eight of nine seasons with Parise and Suter but has not advanced past the first round since 2015.
"We are trying to win and we have to try to improve all the time, and sometimes it takes very difficult decisions to do that," Guerin said. "It's not OK to be where we are right now. We saw great signs this year, we saw great signs. But we're not there yet and we have to continue to try to get better and try to build a Stanley Cup-winning team."
Had Parise and Suter not been bought out, the Wild would have had to protect them prior to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft because each had a no-move clause in his contract.
"Yeah I mean we get to protect two more players," Guerin said. "Like I said, not the main reason for this. It was a contributing part of the decision. There were a lot of things that went into it. … A tough decision to make but one that I feel that we need to make."
Parise said June 3 that he planned on attending training camp after he was a healthy scratch in three of Minnesota's final four regular-season games and the first three playoff games. He scored three points (two goals, one assist) in four games after Minnesota forward Marcus Johansson broke his arm in Game 3.
"In my mind, I don't think anything was going to be any different next year," Parise told The Athletic. "From the way the season started to where it ended up, it just kind of felt like this is where it was going to go. I didn't really envision anything changing. It was a difficult season. I don't really know how else to put it. I've never felt lower in my career."
Guerin previously said Parise was expected to have a role with the Wild next season.
A first-round pick (No. 17) by the New Jersey Devils in the 2003 NHL Draft, Parise helped New Jersey reach the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, a six-game loss to the Los Angeles Kings. He has scored 810 points (393 goals, 417 assists) in 1,060 regular-season games with the Devils and Wild, and 80 points (37 goals, 43 assists) in 105 playoff games.
"We saw what happened with Zach this year and we weren't going to be able to give him the opportunity that maybe we thought we were," Guerin said. "... So we have to keep changing, we have to keep evolving. This is part of it. It's not a fun part, but it's part of it."
A first-round pick (No. 7) by the Nashville Predators in the 2003 draft, Suter has scored 607 points (93 goals, 514 assists) in 1,198 regular-season games with the Wild and Predators, and 31 points (six goals, 25 assists) in 88 playoff games.
"I felt this was the cleanest way (rather than a trade)," Guerin said. "This way gives them more of an opportunity to go out and do what they can do. I know they both have game left and they're going to help another team. ... This will be better for them."
The buyouts free up more than $10 million in NHL salary cap space next season, then $2 million the following season before the savings decrease in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Suter and Parise will then account for a $1.6 million salary cap charge for four seasons beginning in 2025-26.
The Wild re-signed center Joel Eriksson Ek, who could have become a restricted free agent, to an eight-year, $42 million contract (average annual value of $5.25 million) on July 2, and forward Nick Bjugstad, who could have become an unrestricted free agent, to a one-year, $900,000 contract on July 5. Minnesota also intends to re-sign forwards Kevin Fiala and Kirill Kaprizov, who can each become a restricted free agent July 28.
"There's always more to go, but we have an emerging core," Guerin said. "We've got a solid foundation of guys. [Jared] Spurgeon, [Jonas] Brodin and Marcus Foligno and Eriksson Ek, [Jordan] Greenway, Kaprizov, we've got a very solid foundation of strong core young players. We're going to keep building around them."
"Even though [Parise and Suter] are both very good players, it opens the door for other guys. It creates opportunity. … It's a tough day for everybody, but there are some guys that are going to jump on this opportunity, and that's what we expect, that's what we hope for."
NHL.com independent correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report