Next week will mark the 5th-year anniversary of the Minnesota Wild signing Zach Parise and Ryan Suter as free agents.
July 4th, 2012 was the single most important day in franchise history. The Wild, who had been irrelevant for years (and perhaps their entire existence), managed to put themselves on the map by landing two of the biggest free agents available.
They made an immediate impact, dragging an otherwise shoddy Wild team to their first playoff appearance in 4 seasons. They’ve since made the postseason in every year since their arrival. Though Minnesota has not made the Conference Finals in that span, it’s difficult to say those signings haven’t benefitted the Wild greatly.