Wild buying out final 4 years of Suter, Parise contracts

The Minnesota Wild are buying out defenseman Ryan Suter and forward Zach Parise, the team announced Tuesday.

The pair signed matching 13-year, $98-million contracts as free agents in 2012. The buyout for each player will go as follows, per CapFriendly:

Combining the two buyouts, the Wild will receive significant cap savings for the 2021-22 season but not much afterward.

The move also frees up two protection spots for the expansion draft. Both players had to be protected by Minnesota unless they waived the full no-movement clauses in their contracts.

Suter registered three goals and 16 assists in 56 games this campaign. His average ice time of 22:11 was his lowest by over two minutes since joining the Wild.

Parise was a healthy scratch at times this season and tallied just seven goals and 11 assists in 45 contests. His 0.40 points per game tied his career-low mark.

Both players still drove offense this past year in their age-36 seasons. However, Parise - and to a lesser extent, Suter - didn't post strong defensive metrics.

Minnesota missed the postseason just once in nine campaigns during the Suter-Parise era, but it never made it out of the second round.

Suter finishes his Wild career ranked second in franchise history in assists (314) and fourth in games played (656) and points (369). Parise ranks third in goals (199) and points (400) and seventh in games played (558).