Could Zach Parise Or Ryan Suter Fit In Philadelphia?
On Tuesday morning, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin announced that he had bought out the contracts of forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter. Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher signed Parise and Suter to those matching 13 year, $98 million contracts in 2012 when he was the Wild. With both on the open market, he may consider a reunion.
It’s no secret that the Flyers are in desperate need of a shakeup after a dismal 2020-21 season and a lack of sustained success over the course of the last decade. The team is preparing to lose a key player in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft on July 21, and they have been mentioned in plenty of trade rumors surrounding names to bolster their defensive corps. It will be a busy summer for Fletcher after an uneventful 2020 offseason, which contributed heavily to Philadelphia’s decline last season.
ZACH PARISE
The Flyers have reportedly told forward Jakub Voráček that he will be left unprotected in the expansion draft, a move that isn’t particularly shocking given his $8.25 million cap hit. They will explore trade options should the Kraken select another player from the Flyers.
James van Riemsdyk is another forward that has been speculated to be taken by Seattle. He carries a cap hit of $7 million. Either player’s absence would leave a sizable hole on the wing for the Flyers, and Parise may be able to help fill it.
Parise had an underwhelming 2020-21 season, registering only seven goals and 11 assists in 45 games for the Wild. He was a healthy scratch at times, notably sitting in the press box for three games during Minnesota’s first-round playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
He showed signs of slowing down last season at age 36, but he racked up up 25 goals and 21 assists in 69 games in 2019-20. A change of scenery may be just what the doctor ordered for Parise.
Should the Flyers pursue and sign Parise, he likely wouldn’t cost very much. He could perhaps play in a sheltered role in which he wouldn’t play top minutes and could log time on the power play as well. The Flyers have Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee, and Oskar Lindblöm that can shoulder the load on the wing in the top-six group of the forwards at even strength, and Parise could certainly use the rest to stay fresh for more offensive opportunities.
RYAN SUTER
Suter appeared in all 56 of Minnesota’s games this past season, potting 3 goals and 16 assists along the way. The 36-year-old left-handed defenseman logged 22:11 average time on ice (ATOI) for head coach Dean Evason. This was remarkably his lowest ATOI since the 2007-08 season, which perhaps could be a sign he is finally slowing down.
Suter’s defensive zone start percentage also took a slight dip from 2019-20 to 2020-21, as it went from 50.5% to 48.5% in that span, indicating that the Wild were already trying to alleviate some of the pressure off Suter. However, he still logged he third most minute per game while bigger opportunities emerged for Jared Spurgeon, Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, Carson Soucy, and Ian Cole.
The Flyers are still sorely missing a veteran defensive presence after the void of Matt Niskanen was left unattended to, and it showed last season as almost everyone on the Flyers’ blue line took a step back.
The Flyers have been reportedly dialed in on numerous defenseman. The most notable confirmed target is Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones. Without a long-term contract extension, however, the Flyers won’t look to acquire him given the high price tag the Blue Jackets have stapled to him. While Suter wouldn’t be a big fish to catch in the free agency ocean this offseason, he could certainly help the Flyers. Like Parise, his new contract likely wouldn’t be expensive.
He could also play a sheltered role where he wouldn’t have to play top end minutes, and he could be valuable on the penalty kill as well. Suter logged an average of 1:59 a game on Minnesota’s penalty kill, which ranked tied for 11th in the league at 80.8%. Philadelphia’s penalty kill finished at an awful 73.1%, bad enough for 30th in the league.
If the Flyers do manage to shake up a few things and leave multiple spots open on defense, Suter could just be one smaller piece of a larger puzzle that could be potentially filled by Jones, Dougie Hamilton, or any other big name targets. The Flyers also have prized prospect Cam York ready to challenge for a full-time roster spot. Egor Zamula will also be in the mix as well in training camp.
Of course, neither Parise or Suter should be the Flyers’ largest priorities in free agency. However, given their history with Chuck Fletcher, it’s not totally unreasonable to believe that a reunion between the parties could be upon us. They would be only role players in the big picture as Philadelphia will try to go all in on bigger and better players this offseason.