Ironically, from what I'd seen prior to the 2003 draft, I thought he may have been drafted a tad too early in the 7th spot considering I thought he may become more of a defensive specialist than all well-rounded defender or even a force on the offense. I was under the impression that Braydon Coburn (8th), Dion Phaneuf (9th), Brent Seabrook (14th), Brent Burns (20th) and Shea Weber (49th) would have been better earlier picks, with my three favourites being Coburn, Seabrook and Weber.
However, with 5 seasons over the 35-point mark in 9 NHL seasons so far - three of them over 40, with a top of 46 in 2011-12 - he has definitely proved me wrong on that point. And with a career-high of 73 penalty minutes (2008-09), he is nowhere as nasty as his uncle (Gary Suter) was. Add his father Bob Suter to the conversation (a member of the 1980 Miracle On Ice Team USA) and you have decent talk about a legacy family in the making. All three have played for Team USA, with Ryan winning three gold medals (2002 U17, 2002 U18, and 2004 World Juniors) and one silver (2010 Olympics).
Much has been said about Suter's and Zach Parise's twin contracts with the Wild, but to me, it was him moving from one team with a kitty cat on its chest (the Nashville Predators) to another, and because of his father and the Team USA/Minnesota connection, it fit perfectly.
And so it is with a blast from the past and the nicest Predators uniform so far (then-away, dark blue) that I bring you this photo shoot-used jersey card from Upper Deck's 2006-07 Be A Player Portraits (card #FE-RS, part of the First Exposures sub-set):
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