Colorado Avalanche forward Zach Parise has confirmed that he will retire as a player at the end of the current season, the Denver Post‘s Corey Masisak reported Wednesday.
Parise, 39, has four goals and nine points in 29 games since joining the Avalanche in January on a one-year, $825,000 contract. He’ll wrap up his final NHL regular season when the Avalanche take on the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
“Yeah, I’ve decided,” Parise told Masisak. “I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. I was content coming back that this would be the last one.
“It’s been awesome to be a part of,” Parise added. “The experience itself. Playing with these guys and even just practicing with them, it makes you a better player — even at my age. It’s gone even better than I thought it would.”
The Avalanche are slated to enter the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Central Division. They’ll take on the surging Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the postseason.
Through the first 81 games of the 2023–24 regular season, the Avalanche boast a 49-25-7 record, 105 points, and a +46 goal differential. They’ll play game No. 82 at Ball Arena in Denver on Thursday night.
The New Jersey Devils originally selected Parise in the first round (No. 17 overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft. The Minneapolis, Minnesota product spent the first seven seasons of his career in New Jersey and captained the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Final.
Parise and fellow UFA Ryan Suter both signed matching 13-year deals with the Minnesota Wild as unrestricted free agents in 2012. The two stars spent nine seasons in Minnesota before being bought out together in the 2021 offseason.
After leaving Minnesota, Parise spent two seasons with the New York Islanders, with whom he scored 21 goals in 2022–23. He went unsigned to start the 2023–24 season before latching on with the Avalanche midway through.
Since making his NHL debut with the Devils in the 2005–06 season, Parise has racked up 433 goals and 888 points in 1,253 career games. The 5’11” winger has added 37 goals and 80 points in 111 playoff contests.
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