Defenceman Ryan Suter apologized to his former team, the Nashville Predators, for signing with the Minnesota Wild.

Suter and fellow free agent Zach parise signed identical 13-year, $98 million contracts with the Wild last week. Predators general manager said after the signing that he was "disappointed" and "surprised" by Suter's decision.

But Suter, who said he "loved" his time in Nashville, told The Tennessean newspaper he was up-front with the Predators.

"I have never tried to hide anything from anybody," Suter said. "I wanted it to work in Nashville, but the decision I made was to move on, and I'm sorry for the hurt that it has brought to David Poile and to the Predators."

Suter added that the Wild's offer, combined with the chance to play closer to his home (Madison, Wisc., and his wife is from Bloomington, Minn.) was too good to pass up.