The Flyers offered Zach Parise $110 million

The Minnesota Wild signing Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to identical deals was stunning enough, but the money Parise left on the table to join his friend in St. Paul is something unto itself.

Michael Russo of The Star-Tribune broke down the 72 hours that went into the Wild signing the two players, and while he says Parise took less money from the Wild to sign there, the money he turned down from the Flyers was staggering.

The numbers turned out to be 13 years and $98 million. The contracts included identical signing bonus structures ($25 million the first three years) and no-trade clauses. Both players could have made more elsewhere. Parise reportedly had been offered $110 million by Philadelphia. Suter was offered more than $100 million by a team Sheehy wouldn’t identify.

You can’t say Flyers GM Paul Holmgren didn’t go for it. He went for it in a big way to try and steal a superstar from a rival, much the same way the Red Wings did with Suter. Both big teams tried and failed to score big. We don’t know how long the contract offer for Parise was, but you have to assume it was for around 15 years to keep the cap hit manageable.

Maybe it really was all about playing at home.