It took approximately three days of negotiating, re-negotiating, phone calls, flights, praying, head scratching, and warding off higher profile teams (Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia), but in the end it was the Minnesota Wild coming out as the winners of free agency, signing not just Zach Parise or Ryan Suter, but BOTH. Rumors have the contracts both at 13-years, $98M for a cap hit just north of $7.5M each. That puts Zach Parise just ahead of new teammate Dany Heatley for seventh among forwards; Suter meanwhile now carries the largest cap hit for any defenseman in the NHL (and all but guarantees Shea Weber will get $8M). Sure, he isn’t the top defenseman in the NHL, but the only way to lure him away was to pay at least $7M a season. The contracts are structured like most long-term deals, with the last three seasons combining for $4M; they will receive $35M, or over a third of the contract, in the first three years. Minnesota has been a team desperate for two things for a number of years: an identity, and offense. They vastly improve, if not solve, both things today. Parise is a proven 30-goal scorer, leader, and hard-worker. He looks like a great addition alongside two-way All-Star Mikko Koivu on the top line. But let’s not get carried away as far as Stanley Cup predictions are concerned, as adding Parise’s 31 goals from last year would move the Wild from 30th to a tie for 28th. He really improves their roster, but doesn’t solve all that ails them offensively. The addition of Suter is an obvious improvement on the back end. Last year’s top scoring defenseman in Minnesota was Jared Spurgeon, who had 23 points, and only one of their defensemen had a positive plus/minus (Clayton Stoner, plus-3). It remains to be seen how they fill out their blueline going forward, as Suter looks like the only top-flight top-four guy on their roster. It is not a knock on the signings though, but on the rest of the roster. Fans in “the state of hockey” have every right to be excited and pleased with these signings, as it strengthens their team a great deal. But don’t make the mistake of believing these are the finishing touches to a contender. With the offers reported to be available to Parise and Suter, Minnesota doesn’t appear to have overpaid by much, if at all. And because of their passionate fan base and owner, they really needed a splash like this; one would have sufficed but two was a dream come true. The one negative when reviewing the players’ side of this is being in contention for a Stanley Cup. The Wild have zero history of sustained success, or even recent success. Surely the owner and GM made it clear to both that they are willing and wanting to contend though, and very soon, and will work tirelessly to make it happen. If they wanted to immediately contend for a Cup, Parise was probably better served signing with Pittsburgh, and Suter in Detroit or Nashville. Lastly, the Wild kept both players away from hopeful Western Conference contenders in Detroit, Nashville and Chicago. Without a doubt, Independence Day 2012 looks to be the most important day in Minnesota Wild history. Congrats to GM Chuck Fletcher, owner Craig Leipold, the Minnesota fans, and the players and agents. Grade for Minnesota: A++ Grade for Parise and Suter: A-