Wild Take Fourth of July Gamble

English: Zach Parise (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On the hottest July 4th in Twin Cities history (101 degrees), the Minnesota Wild threw a firecracker at the rest of the National Hockey League by signing two of the most coveted free agents this year.

Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils and Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators agreed to terms with the Wild, each armed with 13-year, $98 million contracts.  Both are from (or have ties to) Minnesota, and wanted to play together.  Both rejected offers from other NHL teams that have winning traditions and/or deeper pockets.

Wild owner Craig Leipold was finally willing to spend his way out of mediocrity in going all out to land Parise and Suter.  Suddenly, the team is a Stanley Cup contender after having missed the playoffs for the last four seasons.  Ticket and jersey sales are stating to pick up.

Are Parise and Suter really worth all that money?  Who knows?  Other NHL teams who have locked up their best players in contracts that last at least a decade have had varying results.  No wonder, as the new collective bargaining agreement is being negotiated, some NHL owners tend to plead poverty.  TV money can only take you so far.

Then there's the unavoidable fact that, once a player signs a big contract, his career goes downhill and his team is stuck with a financial albatross.  Look no further than the Minnesota Twins, who signed Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer to long-term deals just to keep them from going elsewhere in free agency.   Injuries have prevented Morneau and Mauer from being more productive on the field.  And Mauer's contract has become a financial impediment for a now-struggling Twins franchise.

The Wild had better hope they got what they paid for with the acquisition of Parise and Suter.  Otherwise, this could turn out to be a long-term dud, if the franchise doesn't go bankrupt first.  Thirteen years is a long time.