Ryan Suter: Better than advertised

Good Morning Ryan Suter! Come on in and take a seat. Let's go over your season and take a look at how we might improve on what you were able to accomplish this year.

Now we both know you drew your fair amount of criticism from the fanbase this year, and we both understand that a lot of that stems from the fact we signed you to a 13-year, 98 million dollar contract. It's a  passionate fanbase, and they have some grand expectations for you. Nobody is perfect, but lets take a look at what all the criticism is all about.

It's really tough to understand what anyone is talking about when we look at your season by the numbers. Your 8 goals tied your career high. Your 43 assists and 51 total regular season points were career highs. 3 power play goals with 18 assists gave you a team leading 21 power play points. In a season where everyone seemingly struggled, you produced at a career level and stayed healthy to boot!

In the 82 regular season games you blocked 142 shots, a career high. You attempted 383 shots with 188 of those finding their way on net, both season bests for you. Averaging 28:36 in time on ice per game, that was a decrease from your average last season and your your third highest average of your career. A lot of the criticism seems to stem from your time on ice and those numbers are actually down by comparison.

I don't get the criticism. Besides, we've brought in a new coach who does a better job of distributing minutes across the board, so that will give fans less to complain about. When it's all said and done though, you had an extremely good season on a team that struggled the second half. You were a steady force on an inconsistent team.

Homework

1. Learn the new system - As you well know, we snagged the biggest fish in the coaching pond in Bruce Boudreau. He's going to tweak some things and life is going to get a little different for you for the first time since coming to Minnesota. We're counting on you to be a leader on this team and help everyone become acclimated in the ways of Boudreau
2. Up your tempo - If Boudreau is true to what we've been hearing, you're going to see a sharp decline in you minutes on the ice per game. Do not take this as an indictment on your play. Don't be fooled, you're doing a great job already. With less ice time though, you'll be free to push yourself to another level. We believe you can keep up your statistical pace even with less minutes on the ice.
3. Stay in shape - Your work ethic off the ice is legendary. This isn't something we are really concerned with, because it's been shown time and time again that you don't stop just because the season does. You know your body. You know how to take care of it in the offseason. Stay healthy, stay focused, and come into next season ready for 82 games.