I remember the first time Barry Trotz told me Ryan Suter would someday make the Hall of Fame. I respect Barry's knowledge and know that Suts does many things defensively that don't show up in the box score. Clearly the league sees him as elite given the contract he got, so he must be great, right?
Below are his stats. He's averaged 34 points over 7 full seasons (makes me feel old to think Suter's played 7 full seasons already). Over the last 4 seasons he's average 42 points. He's never scored more the 8 goals and has averaged 6 goals over the last 6 seasons. On the offensive side of an elite D-Man, these are not elite numbers, yet Suts earned elite dollars and enjoys elite recognition. So how do we grade him as the Wild's #1 D-Man? I'm not sure.
I would be willing to bet Roman Josi's full year stats next year meet or exceed Suter's 42 points. On the d-side, my lovely wife and aggressive Pred fan has always complained to me about Suter's defensive lapses and doesn't understand how he's attained this elite status. Shutdown defense is difficult to capture in stats, so it's in the eye of the beholder.
So I ask, how do we judge success for Ryan Suter, #1 D-Man for hte Minnesota Wild?
Ryan Suter
Defense
Born Jan 21 1985 -- Madison, WI
Height 6.01 -- Weight 195
Selected by Nashville Predators round 1 #7 overall 2003 NHL Entry Draft
--- Regular Season --- ---- Playoffs ----
Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
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2001-02 USNTDP Under-18 Team NAHL 35 2 10 12 75
2002-03 USNTDP Under-18 Team NAHL 9 2 5 7 12
2003-04 U. of Wisconsin WCHA 39 3 16 19 93
2004-05 Milwaukee Admirals AHL 63 7 16 23 70 7 1 5 6 16
2005-06 Nashville Predators NHL 71 1 15 16 66 -- -- -- -- --
2006-07 Nashville Predators NHL 82 8 16 24 54 5 1 0 1 8
2007-08 Nashville Predators NHL 76 7 24 31 71 6 1 1 2 4
2008-09 Nashville Predators NHL 82 7 38 45 73 -- -- -- -- --
2009-10 Nashville Predators NHL 82 4 33 37 48 6 0 0 0 0
2010-11 Nashville Predators NHL 70 4 35 39 54 12 1 5 6 6
2011-12 Nashville Predators NHL 79 7 39 46 30 10 1 3 4 4
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NHL Totals 542 38 200 238 396 39 4 9 13 22
I'm fine if he gets into the hall of fame. As long as his little plaque says "Best defender to miss the playoffs every single season since the great lockout of 2012".
I'm fine if he gets into the hall of fame. As long as his little plaque says "Best defender to miss the playoffs every single season since the great lockout of 2012".
I truly have never had ill-will toward a former Predator, because there's never been one that conducted himself so shadily.
The press conference from Poile after Suter formally signed with MN is the only time that I can ever, ever recall him looking and sounding visibly angry. I think Suter flat out deceived\mislead him, and I think it came as a total shock and threw off our entire offseason.
I think Suter knew from the start that he wasn't coming back, and wouldn't tell Poile for whatever reason-- scared, or because he was using the Predators to drive up the offer. He's a ******* for that, and I wish him nothing but failure for it.
We will never know if Suter lied, and he will probably be the most hated ex-Pred ever, but I still find his perceived elite status unmeasurable.
His first return to Bridgestone will be ugly. As a fanbase, we'll boo him, maybe ever time he touches the puck. At the same time, mgmt will probably show a highlight, tribute video as they've done for lesser ex-Preds.
I think a lot of where Suter's elite status comes from is the way Weber and Suter have looked while the other was injured. Weber went down early a couple of seasons back, and when Hamhuis moved up to play with Suter the top pair still looked good.
When Suter has gone down to injury we've seen Weber with third pairing guys.
I think this brought forth the popular opinion that Suter is actually the better of the two. That opinion spread around HF Boards as people were using the opinions of Nashville fans to support their own opinion of Suter.
As far as the rest of the hockey community is concerned, Suter has always been looked at as a great defenseman, which he is. When he played at the Olympics his reputation grew even bigger.
I used to think they were fairly evenly matched, each of them excelling in areas in which the other was not necessarily elite. Since then we have seen Weber elevate his game to Norris trophy levels, while Suter eventually seemed to become increasingly disinterested. Maybe on the Wild he earns that superstar contract he got. Maybe his problem was not wanting to be in Nashville any longer.
I don't think he is a superstar yet, and I'm not sure his game will ever be rounded enough to reach that level. I think he is near the top of the list in terms of defensive defensemen, but he isn't on the same level as Weber, Chara, Doughty or Keith, IMO.
As for going forward, I don't think his "eliteness" is so much reflected in stats as watching the game. I sit in the corner, attack once end, Ryan's side, so I get 2 periods to see him play an awful lotta' those elite guys and how he handled them; he's darned good at it - position, poking the puck, slowing them down - not things that show in popular stats. Doesn't make a lotta' mistakes moving the puck, passing or carrying - again, not stat things. We think of elite Dmen and they're really known for something noticeable - big hitters, goals, whatever - none of that is Suter.
If he QBs a team to a cup, I think he maintains his "eliteness" and recognition - if not, I think he looks like a really good 1st-pair guy who could make others better and do the little things but not quite the elite guy you build around.
We will never know if Suter lied, and he will probably be the most hated ex-Pred ever, but I still find his perceived elite status unmeasurable.
His first return to Bridgestone will be ugly. As a fanbase, we'll boo him, maybe ever time he touches the puck. At the same time, mgmt will probably show a highlight, tribute video as they've done for lesser ex-Preds.
I will be shocked if Suter or Tootoo get a tribute because we tried to keep both of them and they basically said F_U...
Vokoun was traded against his will, Kariya left during the fire sale, cant remember who else has had a tribute... Sully? Kimmo?
... there I go insulting clowns again
