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The Wild can't offer Zach Parise the chance to play alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin the way the Pittsburgh Penguins can. It can't offer Zach Parise a rich history of winning the way the Detroit Red Wings can.

What the Wild can offer the New Jersey Devils captain and Minnesota native is a chance to play in front of friends and family, to help mold a sizable corps of prospects set to burst onto the scene and to become a hero to a hockey-crazed market salivating for Parise to take his talents to ... the Twin Cities.

Oh, and the Wild can offer Parise a boatload of dough.

For the first time Tuesday, the Wild met face-to-face with Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter.

It appears as if Tuesday morning, Wild owner Craig Leipold, GM Chuck Fletcher and coach Mike Yeo boarded a private plane at St. Paul Airport and flew to International Falls to pick up Suter's agent, Neil Sheehy.

They then gave him a lift to Madison for the meeting with Suter. Also Tuesday, the Red Wings also reportedly met with Suter in Madison.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Wild brass returned to St. Paul with Sheehy, who then flew back to International Falls.

Leipold, Fletcher and Yeo, though cordial at the airport, wouldn't comment. Fletcher said he couldn't speculate as to what Parise and Suter would decide

bluehenbillk wrote:Flyers offered both Suter & Parise 12yr/$80M each.

The Wild has made gargantuan long-term contract offers to both players. Exact figures haven't emerged, but teams interested in Parise are believed to be offering contracts worth $100 million and more, and Suter more than $80 million.

Now it's only a matter of the two deciding if they want to play together in Minnesota and be part of package to help shape the future of a franchise or choose other destinations.

Yes, there is a likelihood the Wild will either land both or neither.

Parise also wanted to talk to Suter, sources say, and that was supposed to happen Tuesday night. In fact, Tuesday night, Parise told Josh Rimer on nextsportstar.com that he talks to Suter often.

"I would love to play on a team with a defenseman like Ryan Suter," Parise told Rimer.

Dowell signed
The Wild signed 27-year-old forward Jake Dowell -- a former Wisconsin player who is close friends with Suter -- to a two-year deal Tuesday night. The first year is a two-way deal, meaning a lesser salary in the minors, and the second year is a one-way deal. Dowell has 33 points in 154 games with Chicago and Dallas.