Detroit Red Wings: Throwing it back to the summer of 2012

It’s a hot summer day in the summer of 2012 leading up to July; Michiganders are out and about living the dream. The Detroit Red Wings are on the verge of becoming big spenders in free agency before the 2012-13 season.

I remember those days leading up to the Fourth of July that summer pretty well. Enjoying time on the lake, thinking about how the Detroit Red Wings were going to be a powerhouse for years to come. Not a bad way to spend the week of the Fourth of July.

The reason for all the Red Wings’ thoughts when the team was not even on the ice?

The Red Wings were all over free agency rumors to be in the mix to sign a dynamic duo. The team had reportedly been in on Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The forward and defenseman combination would have been lethal for the team’s future, or so many thought.

Parise and Suter, both heading into 2012-13, being 28 years old, were thought to be creating a dynasty wherever they went. Parise was coming off of seven strong seasons with the New Jersey Devils organization and was looking to become a scoring threat wherever he wound up.

Suter, his counterpart, was coming off of seven years with the Nashville Predators organization, where he was a steady number two with Shea Weber running things down in Tennessee. Everything seemed set; the two were each going to get mega-deals to play in Detroit and become the new strongholds of the franchise to help them make some deep postseason runs.

The Detroit Red Wings were on the verge of something big in the summer of 2012; the rest is history.