When veteran free agent winger Zach Parise wasn’t signed before training camp, the belief was that if he came back for a 19th NHL season it would be with the Islanders based on comments from both him and GM Lou Lamoriello. However, in a recent TSN Insider Trading segment, The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that some playoff-bound teams, including those with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, are showing interest in Parise as well.
The 39-year-old played the last two seasons for the Islanders and proved to be a pretty good bargain for New York in 2022-23. While playing on a deal that carried a base cap hit of the league minimum (plus another $750K in undisclosed bonuses), he contributed 21 goals along with 13 assists despite primarily playing on the third line along with Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
In his prime, Parise was a consistent 30-goal scorer, reaching that plateau in six of his first ten NHL campaigns. While he hasn’t gotten there since then, he has chipped in four more years of at least 20 goals, the last of which came last season. That makes him an intriguing bottom-six addition for several teams.
Considering Parise took a minimum-salary deal with incentives last season, it stands to reason that he’d be willing to do so again. As long as he signs a one-year contract, he’s eligible to do so; at his age, a two-year agreement seems highly unlikely.
Structuring a contract that way would allow pretty much any contending team to be able to afford him. Even if they’re capped out, the bonuses could be rolled over and count against their 2024-25 cap sheet while a signing team would need to remove someone from their roster to add Parise; that player would make the minimum salary or more.
Earlier today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in his latest 32 Thoughts column that Parise has been skating pretty hard lately at his home in Minnesota, presumably ramping up to sign an NHL contract. But instead of it being all but a certainty that it would be with the Islanders, it appears the veteran will have several other options to consider when the time comes to put pen to paper on a contract.
More must-reads: