Zach Parise, as of today, is officially a New York Islander. For a moment my brain was like “when the hell did I miss this one?” Turns out that it wasn’t officially a deal until just this morning. Obviously earlier this summer it was some big news when the Minnesota Wild bought out Zach Parise’s contract. The Wild are trying to make a push to focus on younger player and everyone has known that yet is was a bit of a shock that they would let go of one of their main guys. He had a bad season last year, was healthy scratched a time or two, and has been on a bit of a decline the last few years but regardless when I think of the Wild, Parise is one of the first to come to mind. So maybe I was the only one a little shocked. The rumor since his buyout has been that Parise will go to the Islanders but he didn’t sign the dotted line until earlier today.
It makes complete sense in my mind. For starters Parise’s dad, Jean-Paul Parisé, played with the Islanders back in the 70’s. Zach knows Islander’s GM Lou Lamoriello from his first few NHL seasons when he was with the New Jersey Devils. Plus the Islanders lineup wouldn’t be a horrible fit for him, hear me out.
As I said, Parise’s numbers with the Wild last season were bad; 45 games played, 18 points (7G 11A) an average of 13:57 per game, 43.8% corsi for. Yeah those aren’t great numbers, especially with the Wild, but he actually would have ranked pretty high with the Islanders. It’s no secret that the Islanders offense is their weak point and that is shown clearly next to Zach’s numbers. Adam Gretz points out in his article for NBCSN that Parise’s 5-on-5 play time, goals, points, and shots per 60 minutes during last season would have ranked highly on the Islander’s sheets. Keep in mind that the Islanders were Cup favorites.
I am a firm believer in a change of scenery. You never know what can boost some players back to that level. Perhaps he thrives here with the Isles and helps them push deeper into the playoffs. I don’t think he’ll just magically go back to those prime days but if he can be the guy helping some of these kids to shoot more or assisting on their goals, then that’s amazing. It seems like they need someone or something to kinda kickstart that idle offense they’ve been dealing with. Maybe 37-year-old Zach Parise could be that.
The Isles still have some final pieces to slot into place before the season starts but I think they’ll be a good team to watch this season. I am really hoping that Parise does get that boost here because if he can get this team’s offense swinging, it will be an absolute joy to watch. I love a good comeback story and wanna know what, I’m rooting for Parise at this point.
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