NHL Free Agency: The three best landing spots for Zach Parise
1. New York Islanders
In many ways, if Zach Parise doesn’t sign with the New York Islanders once Free Agency opens on Wednesday, then it would come as quite a shock given the forward’s deep and considerable ties to that franchise.
For starters, he played under Isles General Manager Lou Lamoriello when Lamoriello was the architect of the New Jersey teams that made deep runs to the Playoffs, including making the Stanley Cup Final in 2011-12.
Parise was willing to waive his no-move clause in both 2019 and at the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline in order to speak to Lamoriello and the Islanders, so it is common sense that the left-shot would be more than interested in making his Long Island home this time around.
His ties to the Islanders also go much deeper than that, however, given that his late father J.P. Parise played 240 games for the franchise in the 70’s, so that could certainly be a huge factor in any decision too.
There’s also the fact that Parise is a perfect fit for the way the Islanders play hockey, and he would be a dream figure for Head Coach Barry Trotz to have both in the room and out on the ice.
He’s a real character guy, he’s a respected leader and he would buy in to Trotz’s team-first philosophy and ensure that the overall success of the team is the main priority.
Sure, Parise isn’t the player he was and he’s not going to get back to those levels at this stage in his career but, in a well-structured system such as the Islanders, he could enjoy success as a middle-six forward, maybe even as a running mate for Mathew Barzal, he could be used in all situations and he would be a nice fit on the second power play unit.
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The Islanders have a load of cap space – around $17 million per CapFriendly – and they could sign Parise to a performance bonus-laden deal if they have other moves in the pipeline, but a move to Long Island and a reunion with a GM he knows and trusts could be the perfect fit for Zach Parise, who will be looking to win an elusive Stanley Cup with what could be his final contract in the National Hockey League.