For a very long time, the success — and failures — of the Minnesota Wild have been tied to the contracts of two players. Their debuts in the 2012-13 season seems like ancient history.
Ryan Suter and Zach Parise have meant a great deal to this franchise and the different roster iterations they have been parts of. The arrival of Suter and Parise marked the beginning of a new era for the Wild franchise. While the identical contracts they signed that summer were criticized then as much as now, the negative impact of spending $98 million over 13 years is only now starting to rear its ugly head.