Shortly before their game tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, the Colorado Avalanche announced they have signed veteran forward Zach Parise to a one-year contract. Frank Seravalli of the DailyFaceoff reports that the one-year contract will be worth a pro-rated $825K for the rest of the season.
Even after seeing the return of Artturi Lehkonen back into the lineup, the Avalanche are still without some of their high-level forward depth since Valeri Nichushkin left for the NHLPA Player Assistance Program. In Parise, Colorado will likely not be able to replace the production left by Nichushkin with the 39-year-old fully. Still, it should create a formidable top-nine forward unit upon his return to the organization.
Historically, the story of Parise is known well, being one of the better players in the league for the New Jersey Devils in the late-2000s and early-2010s. Scoring 410 points in 502 games for New Jersey, as well as leading them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012, Parise famously joined the Minnesota Wild as an unrestricted free agent before the 2012-13 season, signing an identical 13-year, $98MM contract as defenseman Ryan Suter.
Much to the dismay of both player and team, some injury-riddled seasons, as well as a dire need for cap space, led the Wild General Manager, Bill Guerin, to buy out the contracts of both Parise and Suter after year nine of the 13-year agreements. It wouldn’t take long for Parise to find a new home, however, Lou Lamoriello would quickly ink him to a one-year contract with the New York Islanders, being the executive that originally drafted Parise into the NHL.
Returning to much better health with the Islanders, over two separate one-year contracts with the organization, Parise would play in all 82 games in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 NHL seasons. Over the course of those two contracts, Parise became a quality auxiliary scorer for New York, putting up 36 goals and 69 points over 164 games, with 21 of those goals coming last season alone.
Having not played in an NHL game since late April of 2023, it will undoubtedly take some time for Parise to make his return to any NHL contest, especially with the speed at which Colorado plays the game. Nevertheless, as an effective scorer and veteran presence on a recent Stanley Cup Champion team, the marriage between Parise and the Avalanche should prove valuable to both sides.
Why? They had Tomas Tatar and gave up on him. I’ll take Tatar over the ole man any day!
dawg you are so obsessed with trashing older players.
Well when you finally get your long overdue shot at running an nhl franchise, make sure you bring galchenyuk, Rodriguez and eller with you too.
Said to myself, self, based on the headline I would guess with almost certainty that Wilf will be leading the way in the comment section trashing this move because he certainly knows more about hockey than does Joe Sakic. And you upped the bar with two babbling posts. Well done!
Chris MacFarland is the GM not Joe Sakic.
No kidding. And where in my post did I state that Joe Sakic is the GM? He’s been out of that job since 2022.
You have to do some homework before you come on here! Lol
Steak Tatar was a bad signing, but Parise should bring a better work ethic. Whether that bumps the meter, we’ll see.
The Avs depth took a big hit after winning the cup, They also paid dearly by playing Landeskog when he was injured, In fact the finals made it worse and he may never come back, Losing Nichushkin dosen’t help. Signing Parise is grasping at straws and it won’t improve the serious depth issues.
Uh, Wilf, adding players is the only way to improve depth issues.
Good job Mr.Obvious! But bringing in old and slow players doesn’t change anything, However It will be entertaining for me.
Nichushkin will be back soon 100% .Our captain is skating with the team a bit and its actually a possibility this season he may return for the playoffs.I dont think the Avs are grasping at straws at all and Parise will definitely strengthen the teams depth,likely playing on the third or 4th line.He was a thorn in big games against us in the past and knows how to turn it up a knotch in the playoffs while also bringing leadership in the dressing room.The Avs arent done building this team before the playoffs and its likely they bring in a centerman for the second line and a goalie who is reliable to back Georgiev or even be the No.1.Colorados best players are in their prime so now is the time to push for another Cup!!!! #GOAVS
Love the signing.
I’ll take Tatar and Chris Wagner over Parise these day’s, The Avs should have held on to Tatar, He’s a notorious slow starter.
And a even faster finisher.