Prized free agent defenseman Ryan Suter is a member of the Minnesota Wild. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the franchise has won the bidding on Suter's services with a 13 year contract. Financial terms were not immediately reported.
He'll join prized free agent forward Zach Parise, who's returning home to Minnesota as well. Quite the coup for the 12 year old franchise and general manager Chuck Fletcher.
Suter, 27, has spent his entire seven-year career with the Nashville Predators organization. The defenseman scored seven goals and 39 assists with the Preds in 2011-12, keying their top pairing alongside fellow All-Star defenseman Shea Weber.
The Wisconsin-native is familiar with the Upper Midwest region, playing his youth hockey in the state, college hockey at Wisconsin and AHL hockey at Milwaukee.
In 2008, Suter signed a four-year deal to stay in Nashville, a deal that expired this past year. He earned $3.5 million per season against the cap on that deal, and will likely earn much more than that on this new contract. It's expected the deal could reach near or north of $100 million over the course of the 13 seasons.
Suter passed up offers from a lot of the league's strongest franchises to sign in Minnesota, not known as one of the strongest NHL clubs. Powerhouses such as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings were in hard on Suter.
For more on the Wild, check in with Hockey Wilderness and SB Nation Minnesota.
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