Suter, Stars betting on Stanley Cup in near future

After shockingly being bought out by the Minnesota Wild early in the off-season, Ryan Suter decided to bring his talents to a team that he thinks has a good shot at winning the Stanley Cup in the near future. He ended up signing with the Dallas Stars which will be the first team, rather than the Minnesota Wild, that he has played with since 2012.

Suter went to Minnesota in the prime of his career hoping that he and Zach Parise could help build a cup winning team, after they both signed monster 13-year, $98 million deals.

«You're young and you think you're going to get so many chances to win and all of that different stuff,» Suter said. «I went to Minnesota thinking, 'OK, let's go here. We can build a team that we can go and compete to win.' Obviously, that didn't happen.»

Suter is still searching for his first career Stanley Cup, and he thinks that Dallas has a good shot at helping him get there.

«I felt there was so much pressure on this (free agency) decision for me, personally, because I wanted to make sure that I picked the right situation to give me the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup,» Suter said. «I've been very fortunate with the contracts I've signed, different places I've been and different experiences.To win the Stanley Cup would mean the world to me. That's what I'm going to Dallas to do.»

According to Suter, the hardest part of the breakup with Minnesota wasn't for him, but rather for his family.

«The hardest part was my family,» Suter said. «For me, I can deal with it. It's the family that I was sad for. They're leaving all of their friends, just made so many great relationships in Minnesota. That was the hardest part for me. My three youngest kids were born in Minnesota. My wife's from Minnesota. I was close to Wisconsin. It was everything that we wanted, that's why we signed there as a free agent.»

«It was a great time. Everything happens for a reason. We're really excited about this opportunity because guys when they turn 36 really don't get this opportunity. We have it and we're going to make the most of it, for sure.»

Suter thought that the fit with the Stars will be perfect and just felt right to him, and Stars general manager Jim Nill thinks that Suter can make them have one of the best top-four defense cores in the league.

«Ryan Suter's been one of the top defensemen in the NHL for many years,» Nill said. «He's a great veteran, got a great presence. He's a heavy minute-cruncher. He's one of those guys, he reminds me a lot of Chris Chelios when I was in Detroit. He doesn't seem to age. He's a heavy body, got iron lungs and he's a great skater.»

«If you're going to have success in this league, you've got to have a good top four. We really feel that this top four is as good as anybody in the league. That's what excites us.»

theathletic.com

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