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Zach Parise

Zach Parise Undecided On Playing Future

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A lot of people thought Zach Parise’s career was over a few years ago. In 2020-21, he scored just seven goals in 45 games for the Minnesota Wild, found himself on the fourth line or in the press box, and was bought out at the end of the season. He was turning 37 and would earn a paycheck from the Wild through 2028-29—what better situation to sail off into the sunset.

Except, he wasn’t done. Parise would join his old general manager Lou Lamoriello with the New York Islanders and experience something of a renaissance. This past season he scored 21 goals, the 11th time in his career he scored at least that many.  Now, instead of assuming his career is over, people are asking whether he’s returning to the Islanders for another go.

A month before his 39th birthday, Parise still isn’t sure. Andrew Gross of Newsday reports that the veteran forward is undecided on his playing future, meaning the Islanders must wait before any negotiations can happen.

After his one-year, bonus-laden deal expires, Parise is about to become an unrestricted free agent again. He had an initial $750K cap hit last season but earned another $750K in bonus money for staying healthy. That kind of a deal would be expected again if he decides to return, and likely only with the Islanders.

If it is the end, Parise’s two seasons with New York are a nice capstone on a fantastic career. Selected 17th overall by Lamoriello and the New Jersey Devils in 2003, he has played 1,224 regular season games, scored 429 goals, and recorded 879 points.

Wild Notes: Addison, Gustavsson, Duhaime

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Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic write that they believe Minnesota Wild defenseman Calen Addison could be dealt, but they don’t believe he should be. The 23-year-old just completed his first full season in the NHL and put up good offensive numbers with three goals and 26 assists in 62 games. While those numbers are terrific for a first-year defender, 18 of his assists came on the power play, meaning that he produced just 11 points at even strength.

Trading Addison would raise some eyebrows as the Wild would be moving on from him while his value is lower than it could be. The Brandon, Manitoba native had a string of healthy scratches last year that left him out of action and also kept him from putting up something closer to 40 points. While his defensive game has some warts and he is undersized, Addison is an offensively talented right-shot defenseman, something that is coveted throughout the league.

If Minnesota opted to trade Addison it would be strictly a cap move as they are in a very delicate situation trying to navigate the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts that are taking up nearly $15MM in cap space.

In other Wild notes:

  • Russo and Smith also wrote that the Wild would love to sign goaltender Filip Gustavsson to a three-year contract extension, however, the third year in that scenario would be the first year that Gustavsson is eligible for unrestricted free agency. This would make the third year significantly more expensive, which is giving Minnesota pause. Gustavsson was terrific last season in 39 games for the Wild posting a 22-9-7 record with a .931 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average. Russo and Smith wonder if a one-year deal might make more sense as it would give the Wild a chance to take a longer look at the netminder before committing money and term to him. For Gustavsson he would be betting on himself and could become a restricted free agent again next summer when the cap is expected to dramatically increase.
  • Russo and Smith added that forward Brandon Duhaime tried to get a deal done with the Wild, but it has yet to materialize. They believe that the longer he goes without an extension the likelier it becomes that the 26-year-old is a possible trade candidate. Duhaime is a restricted free agent and is coming off an underwhelming season that saw him play just 51 games. The former fourth-round pick posted nine goals and a single assist last season and set a career high in goals, but he missed significant time with various injuries.

Islanders Notes: Bailey, Coaching Staff, Free Agents, Injury Updates

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Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello met with the media today (video link) and provided updates on several things while also confirming that he is under contract, though he declined to state for how long.  Here are some of the updates from his presser.

  • Speaking about veteran winger Josh Bailey, Lamoriello indicated that “In Josh’s case, it looks like, maybe it’s near the end here.” The 33-year-old had a rough showing this season, notching just eight goals and 17 assists in 64 games, resulting in him being a healthy scratch at times.  Bailey still has one year left on his contract with a $5MM AAV, one that would require New York to provide an incentive for another team to take on.  A buyout, meanwhile, would save around $2.33MM on the cap for next season while adding $1.167MM in dead space for 2024-25.
  • Lamoriello also confirmed that head coach Lane Lambert would be back for his second season behind the bench. The team was eliminated in the first round by Carolina and didn’t take as big of a step forward offensively as expected; the team scored just 12 more goals than they did under the defensive-minded Barry Trotz.  However, Lamoriello wouldn’t confirm that the full coaching staff would be back for next year, stating “that’s not something that I can assert to at this point”.  John MacLean and Doug Houda were the lead assistants this season for the Isles.
  • Lamoriello indicated that he’d like to re-sign pending UFA defenseman Scott Mayfield, goaltender Semyon Varlamov, and forward Pierre Engvall. Mayfield has become a steady top-four blueliner and should more than double the $1.45MM AAV from his expiring deal.  Varlamov played in just 23 games this season, his fewest games played total since getting a brief stint in his rookie year in 2008-09.  He’s coming off a $5MM contract and will be facing a likely cut in pay, especially if he wants to remain in New York.  Engvall, meanwhile, came over at the trade deadline from Toronto and picked up nine points in 18 games following the swap.  He’s coming off a $2.25MM contract and should be in line for more than that on the open market.  With the Islanders having a little over $5MM in cap space per CapFriendly, they have some work to do if they want to bring those three back.
  • As for Zach Parise, another pending UFA, Lamoriello mentioned he’d also like to bring him back but the veteran first needs to decide if he’s going to play again next season. The 38-year-old had a productive year with 21 goals but after 18 NHL seasons, it’s certainly possible that he decides to call it a career.
  • Lamoriello also noted that winger Oliver Wahlstrom has resumed skating as he works his way back from an ACL injury back in late December. He, along with Alexander Romanov (shoulder surgery), are both set to be ready in time for training camp.

Minnesota Wild Sign Frederick Gaudreau To Extension

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The Minnesota Wild announced that they’ve taken care of some offseason business early as they have inked forward Frederick Gaudreau to a five year $10.5MM extension. Gaudreau was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, but his extension will keep him with the Wild for the next five seasons.

Gaudreau originally signed a two year $2.4MM contract with the Wild in July 2021 after spending a single season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. While that contract carried some risk, it turned out to be an absolute bargain for Minnesota. The 29-year-old has put up 80 points in 157 games for Minnesota and added some cheap depth scoring.

Minnesota has been hamstrung by the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The veterans buyout will account for nearly $15MM of the Wild’s salary cap space next year. Despite the cap issues, GM Bill Guerin has been able to bargain shop on multiple occasions and hit more often than he misses.  Even more impressive for Guerin is that he’s been able to build a competitive team without cap space and while also not mortgaging the future. Minnesota has all their first and second round draft picks for the near future.

While getting the Gaudreau contract done early is a tidy piece of business for the Wild, they do have some other pending free agents who will be much more difficult to extend and just $6.8MM in cap space to do it. John Klingberg, Matt Dumba, Gustav Nyquist and Oskar Sundqvist are all unrestricted, while defenseman Calen Addison and goaltender Filip Gustavsson are restricted free agents. Minnesota will likely have to make some tough decisions this summer, but with one of the best farm systems in the NHL, they should be able to remain competitive while getting younger and cheaper.

Nominees Announced For 2023 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association has voted on the award since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2023.

Past winners of the award include Carey Price (2022), Oskar Lindblom (2021), Bobby Ryan (2020), Robin Lehner (2019), Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), and Jaromir Jagr (2016).

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Jakob Silfverberg

Arizona Coyotes – Clayton Keller

Boston Bruins – Nick Foligno

Buffalo Sabres – Craig Anderson

Calgary Flames – Mikael Backlund

Carolina Hurricanes – Jordan Martinook

Chicago Blackhawks – Alex Stalock

Colorado Avalanche – Andrew Cogliano

Columbus Blue Jackets – Boone Jenner

Dallas Stars – Jamie Benn

Detroit Red Wings – Robby Fabbri

Edmonton Oilers – Derek Ryan

Florida Panthers – Patric Hornqvist

Los Angeles Kings – Pheonix Copley

Minnesota Wild – Mason Shaw

Montreal Canadiens – Alex Belzile

Nashville Predators – Cody Glass

New Jersey Devils – Dougie Hamilton

New York Islanders – Zach Parise

New York Rangers – Jimmy Vesey

Ottawa Senators – Derick Brassard

Philadelphia Flyers – Nick Seeler

Pittsburgh Penguins – Kris Letang

San Jose Sharks – Nikolai Knyzhov

Seattle Kraken – Brandon Tanev

St. Louis Blues – Sammy Blais

Tampa Bay Lightning – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

Toronto Maple Leafs – Mark Giordano

Vancouver Canucks – Brock Boeser

Vegas Golden Knights – Phil Kessel

Washington Capitals – John Carlson

Winnipeg Jets – Sam Gagner

Zach Parise Plans To Continue Playing After This Season

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Longtime NHL veteran Zach Parise of the New York Islanders spoke with Kevin Kurz of The Athletic this morning and reiterates that he hopes to continue playing after this season. Parise is an 18-year NHL veteran and will turn 39 this summer when he will be an unrestricted free agent.

The Minneapolis, MN native was drafted 17th overall in the historic 2003 NHL draft class. Heading into the draft, Parise was ranked the ninth overall North American prospect, coming off of a tremendous 61-point season for the University of North Dakota. It didn’t take long for Parise to find his way to the NHL, joining the New Jersey Devils during the 2005-06 season.

In October of 2011, Parise was named the ninth captain in Devil’s history, replacing long-time captain Jamie Langenbrunner as the team leader. In 502 total games in New Jersey, Parise scored a total of 194 goals and 216 assists, helping lead the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012.

After his tremendous play in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, Parise joined Ryan Suter as the top free agent heading in the 2012-13 season. On July 4th, 2012, Parise and Suter signed identical 13-year, $98 million contracts with his hometown Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately, Parise and Suter would only play nine years of that contract, as both were bought out before the 2021-22 season. Playing in 558 games with the Wild, Parise scored 199 goals and 201 assists, failing to help Minnesota reach further than the second round of the playoffs.

After being bought out by the Wild, Parise joined his former GM Lou Lamoriello, signing on with the Islanders on a 1-year, $750K deal. In his first year with the Islanders, Parise scored 35 points in 82 games and has followed that up with similar production this year, scoring 32 points in 78 games.

Although Parise is in a race against father time, the forward is earnest on playing during the 2023-24 season. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, but it will be hard to imagine Parise leaving the Islanders. Parise has notably followed the footsteps of his late father J.P. Parise, who played for the historic Minnesota North Stars as well as the Islanders.

Minnesota Wild Will Sign Mason Shaw This Summer

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Joe Smith of The Athletic is reporting that the Minnesota Wild intend to sign pending restricted free agent Mason Shaw to an extension this summer, despite his recent ACL tear. Shaw is expected to be out for eight to nine months after he was injured this past Saturday in a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

For Shaw, this is the fourth time he’s torn an ACL in his young career. He’s had surgery three times already and will now need to go through it a fourth time. Smith reported that the feeling in the Wild dressing room was somber, with Shaw’s injury hitting his teammates hard.

By all accounts, Shaw is very popular within the Wild dressing room and has worked hard to get into the teams bottom six. Wild GM Bill Guerin said of Shaw’s contract, ““That won’t be something he’s going to have to worry about. We’ll figure something out. You don’t want to let go of guys like that.”

Minnesota is going to be in a tight cap crunch once again this summer with the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts accounting for nearly $15MM in cap space next year. While Shaw may not return in the 2023 calendar year, he should return in early 2024 barring any setbacks. Shaw’s qualifying offer this summer will be just $787.5K, meaning that even with a modest raise Minnesota shouldn’t have any issue offering him a contract, despite their precarious cap situation.

Metropolitan Notes: Rangers, Smith, Korpisalo, Parise, Oshie

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The Rangers are among the teams that have done some research into Coyotes winger Phil Kessel, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports.  The 34-year-old is in the final season of his contract with Arizona carrying a $6.8MM cap hit, one that few playoff-bound teams other than New York can actually afford without requiring retention.  Kessel has just six goals in 60 games but has chipped in with 31 assists to sit fourth in team scoring.  Kaplan notes that Arizona’s asking price earlier in the season was a third-round pick which would be a reasonable price to pay to add some extra offensive depth on the wing.  The Rangers already made a move like that this week with the acquisition of Frank Vatrano but they still have cap and roster space to add more help on that front.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • While Hurricanes defenseman Brendan Smith returned to the lineup on Thursday after suffering a broken skull, Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal notes that the veteran still hasn’t fully regained his hearing in his left ear. It is expected to gradually improve over time and shouldn’t require surgery but it’s something Smith will have to play through for the time being.
  • The Blue Jackets haven’t had much interest in goaltender Joonas Korpisalo so far, notes Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. Earlier in the season, they had hoped to pick up a second-round pick or a third rounder for his services but Seravalli pegs their asking price at a late-round selection now.  It has been a tough year for the pending UFA as he has a save percentage of just .880 in 20 games this season, 22 points below his career average.
  • Islanders winger Zach Parise told reporters, including Newsday’s Andrew Gross, that he’s hoping to return to the team next season. The 37-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent and with a base cap hit of just $750K, he’s someone that could be moved to a contender looking for extra forward depth.  After a quiet start to the season, Parise has improved offensively in recent weeks, collecting a dozen points in 21 games since the start of February.
  • Capitals winger T.J. Oshie was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Carolina. The team announced (Twitter link) that the veteran is dealing with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.  This is now the sixth instance that has caused Oshie to miss time this season and as a result, he has been limited to just 28 games although he has managed to record 20 points.

New York Islanders Make Several Roster Moves

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Dec 30: Brock Nelson entered the protocol on December 28. He joined Beauvillier, Clutterbuck, Wahlstrom, Parise, Salo, and Martin at that point but the latter three have now cleared. Today, Sebastian Aho has been placed in the protocol, while Cole Bardreau, Austin Czarnik, and Michael Dal Colle have all been recalled from the taxi squad. Grant Hutton has also been recalled from Bridgeport, while Kyle Palmieri has gone on injured reserve.

Dec 26: After their roster was decimated by COVID cases earlier in the season, the New York Islanders placed Anthony Beauvillier, Cal Clutterbuck, Zach Parise, and Oliver Wahlstrom into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol today.

In a corresponding move, the Islanders assigned forwards Cole Bardreau and Simon Holmstrom, as well as defenseman Grant Hutton, to the freshly re-introduced taxi squad as COVID cases continue to climb around the league.

It’s not all bad news, however. The team activated center Mathew Barzal from protocol, and general manager Lou Lamoriello says winger Matt Martin and defenseman Robin Salo will be activated on Wednesday.

Beauvillier is in the midst of a truly tough season, like most of the team. The 24-year-old winger has just four goals and four assists through 24 games.

The toughest loss at this point for the Islanders is Wahlstrom, who’s finally been elevated to top-line duties and has eight goals and seven assists through 26 games. Clutterbuck and Parise have combined for six goals and five assists through 26 games each.

Zach Parise Signs With New York Islanders

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October 10: Per CapFriendly, Parise’s deal is indeed for the league-minimum $750,000, receiving $750,000 in potential performance bonuses.

September 13: Though they still haven’t publicly acknowledged the signing, the Islanders introduced Parise at a press conference on Friday and confirmed he had agreed to terms with the team. Arthur Staple of The Athletic believes the deal will “very likely” be for a $750K base salary plus performance bonuses. Those bonuses, should the Islanders remain over the cap in LTIR this season, will be carried over to books for 2022-23.

September 1: 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 multi-year contracts earlier today, but Parise wasn’t among those who were formally introduced. Though 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 $6MM 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 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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