Parise Watch Day 4: There's A New World Order In St. Paul

Koivu, Suter and Parise. After getting Ryan Suter and signing him to a 13 year, $98 milliom contract, Minnesota adds Zach Parise to the fold for the same. Besides easily being the biggest free agency haul in Minnesota Wild (and pro sports in the state), Chuck Fletcher is some sort of genius salesman. Book him now.

July 4th is a great day for America and a great one for the Minnesota Wild. Last year saw Fletcher trade Marty Havlat for Dany Heatley and this year sees a pair of Americans (and one Minnesotan) sign with them in 2012.

Also for as much crap as Anthony LaPanta got when he was hired, at least he will a reason to be excited to call hockey this year. The days of having to sell the State of Hockey on the value of Jed Ortmeyer and Warren Peters as top-six players are over. OVER! The Wild have an elite goal-scoring forward in his prime, something they've been missing since Marian Gaborik left in free agency, and a #1 defenseman in Suter. They may not be Cup contenders next season but with those two the expectations are raised where it's playoffs or bust.

And after four seasons of missing the playoffs, those are some good expectations. Throw in one of the NHL's best prospect pools and the potential for a young superstar like Mikael Granlund in the balance and things are looking up in the State of Hockey.

More analysis later but for now we'll be out celebrating.