As expected, Zach Parise will sign with the New York Islanders this offseason. He has already agreed to terms with the team, Parise confirmed to Michael Russo of The Athletic, but the contract has just not been registered yet with the NHL. No contract details have been revealed.
The Islanders finally announced four multiyear contracts earlier Wednesday, but Parise wasn’t among those who were formally introduced. Although those deals pushed the Islanders over the salary-cap upper limit for the time being, the team will move Johnny Boychuk to long-term injured reserve as his playing career is over. In order to get the full relief of his $6M cap hit, the Islanders need to be as close to the cap ceiling as possible when they make the LTIR transaction. A deal for Parise could potentially get them there when it is eventually filed.
The 37-year-old forward has spent the last nine years with the Minnesota Wild, but he has a relationship with Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello that goes back to his draft in 2003. That’s when the New Jersey Devils — then led by Lamoriello — picked Parise 17th overall out of the University of North Dakota. He would become a star in New Jersey before inking a massive 13-year free-agent contract with close friend Ryan Suter to go to Minnesota in 2012.
Those contracts were bought out earlier this summer, and speculation immediately emerged that had Parise going to Long Island. Suter signed a four-year deal with the Dallas Stars, but that kind of term is likely not available for Parise. While Suter is still a legitimate top-four defenseman, the veteran forward had fallen on hard times recently and was even healthy scratched several times by the Wild.
Parise had just seven goals and 18 points in 2020-21 for Minnesota, averaging fewer than 14 minutes a night. That may seem like a player destined for retirement, but it was just 2019-20 the last time Parise was a 25-goal scorer. Perhaps he can return to that kind of production — or at least something still valuable — in New York, where he’ll once again be able to chase a Stanley Cup that has thus far eluded him over a 1,060-game NHL career.
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