Parise, Suter to Minn.; Flyers go to Plan B

The Flyers made huge offers, but in the end, they fell on deaf ears.

Defenseman Ryan Suter and left winger Zach Parise, the prizes in this year's free-agent pool, signed with the Minnesota Wild, a team that hasn't made the playoffs during the last four seasons.

Parise, a Minnesota native,and Suter each received 13-year deals for $98 million. That's an annual cap hit of $7.54 million, which is seventh in the NHL.

The Flyers are believed to have offered each player a 12-year contract in the $100 million neighborhood.

At 11 a.m., the Flyers had not heard from the Suter or Parise camps on Wednesday _ and that seemed like a negative sign.

On Twitter, some Flyers fans said it would be fitting for the duo to make the announcement that they were coming to America's birthplace _ Philadelphia _ on the Fourth of July.

Ah, dream on.

Suter and Parise are close friends and they conferred with each other during the free-agency period, fueling speculation they would be a package deal.

The speculation turned into reality.

They will try to help the Wild win their first playoff series since 2003.

The Flyers will turn their attention to trying to sign UFA defenseman Matt Carle. If he is commanding $5.5 million per year, the Flyers should pass.

Carle is talented and would help the Flyers, but in the long run, a multi-year deal with that kind of financial commitment might hamstring the club in the future.

Free-agent winger Shane Doan interests the Flyers, but he will stay in Phoenix if the franchise doesn't move. He said he will decide by July 9; by that time it should be known if the Coyotes are remaining in Phoenix.

The Flyers will try to deal for either Anaheim's Bobby Ryan ($5.1 million cap hit for next three years) or Columbus' Rick Nash ($7.8 million cap hit for next six years), a pair of high-scoring forwards who would give them some much-needed size on the wings.

(more coming)

 Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.