Zach Parise, Ryan Suter both sign in Minnesota: What's next for Flyers?

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are both members of the Minnesota Wild. That's pretty shocking, and well ... Wild fans are certainly shocked. Go check out the reaction over at Hockey Wilderness this July 4 afternoon. Pretty neat stuff considering it's a team that's literally zero threat to the Philadelphia Flyers.

In reality, this is just the best possible outcome for us. The Flyers avoid giving nearly $200 million out to two players and they avoid seeing these guys multiple times a year with Pittsburgh or New Jersey or whoever else. And by not signing in Detroit, we lose the opportunity of potential realignment bringing them into the Eastern Conference as well.

Win for us, win for Minnesota, lose for Pittsburgh and Detroit. I like it.

But what now? Obviously, the next big domino to fall on the defensive market is Matt Carle, and it wouldn't be shocking to see a deal signed between the hopefully-not-former Flyer and some NHL club today. But with plenty of teams looking at their Plan B options now, the price won't be cheap for Carle and the Flyers could get caught in a bidding war.

As good as Carle is and as much as the team needs him, a bidding war could be seriously detrimental. As we've seen in this market, the value of these guys is serious inflated and it's not the kind of position to put yourself in long-term. We know how long-term deals work. They're almost never pretty, especially when you're outbidding several other big money clubs.

Up front, there are still plenty of options. A ton of lesser ones, then some bigger names like Shane Doan and Alex Semin (lol). And of course the trade market: Bobby Ryan, Rick Nash ...

We'll see what happens. For now, congrats to Minnesota and Happy 4th.