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Zach Parise

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.

Nick Foligno Likely To Sign With Minnesota Wild

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When Nick Foligno left the Columbus Blue Jackets at the NHL Trade Deadline this season, traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, many expected that he could return to the team this off-season. The Columbus captain since 2015, Foligno has strong ties to the organization and the city, enough that there was an expectation that the veteran forward would re-sign with the rebuilding club. While Foligno is technically the property of the Maple Leafs until July 28 and is now able to negotiate with the Seattle Kraken after being exposed in the Expansion Draft, this was the anticipated path of his off-season and the expectation remained that it would end back in Columbus.

Not so fast, says Bally Sports Andy Strickland. If there was any other team the could seduce Foligno from Columbus, it would be the Minnesota Wild, where his brother Marcus Foligno is a core player and signed long-term, not to mention protected from the Expansion Draft. That appears to be exactly what he is thinking. Strickland reports that there is a “strong possibility” that Foligno joins his brother in Minnesota when the free agent market opens next week.

Foligno, 33, is a gritty, hard-working forward who wins puck battles and creates offense in front of the net. Even as he has gotten older, Foligno’s offense has remained consistent throughout his career, scoring between 0.4 and 0.65 points per game in 12 of his 13 full NHL seasons (the one exception was a .92 PPG aberration in 2014-15). Foligno is also a smart, experienced leader, both in the locker room and on the ice. Foligno could help to make up for the recent departures of long-time Wild leaders Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, even replacing Parise’s middle-six winger role. The fit makes sense for a Minnesota team that is looking to take a step forward this coming season after a major turnaround in 2020-21.

Minnesota Wild To Buy Out Zach Parise, Ryan Suter

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In a shocking turn of events, the Minnesota Wild have begun the buyout process for both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Because they have no-movement causes, they do not need to go through the unconditional waiver process. Both players are on identical 13-year, $98MM contracts that were signed in 2012; a buyout would cause cap penalties of the following for each player:

  • 2021-22: $2,371,794
  • 2022-23: $6,371,794
  • 2023-24: $7,371,794
  • 2024-25: $7,371,794
  • 2025-26: $833,333
  • 2026-27: $833,333
  • 2027-28: $833,333
  • 2028-29: $833,333

Amazingly, because of the way their contracts were so heavily front-loaded, each player will only receive $6,666,667 in actual salary over the eight years of the buyout. It clears more than $10MM of cap space for the upcoming season, though obviously creates a huge cap penalty in years 2-4 of the buyout.

It’s the end of an era in Minnesota, as Suter and Parise have been the faces of the franchise for nearly a decade. Their signing in 2012 shocked the hockey world, as they decided to go to a relatively new team that had missed the playoffs in eight of its 11 years of existence. When they arrived, things immediately turned positive for Minnesota, reaching the playoffs in each of the next six seasons, but there was very little postseason success. Now, after another disappointing first-round exit, GM Bill Guerin has decided to do what was unthinkable until recently. He released a statement on the move, thanking both players for their contributions:

Zach and Ryan have been an integral part of the Wild’s success over the past nine years and we’ll always be grateful for their many contributions. There were numerous factors that entered into the difficult decision to buy out their contracts, but primarily these moves are a continuation of the transformation of our roster aimed at the eventual goal of winning a Stanley Cup. 

Parise, 36, had been pushed almost entirely out of the lineup, dressing only occasionally down the stretch and playing in just four of the team’s seven postseason games. He managed to record three points in those four matches, but had just 18 in his 45 regular season games. His role moving forward was completely unclear, but now he’ll at least get the chance to test the open market. The New York Islanders and GM Lou Lamoriello had been interested in the past, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll pursue the veteran forward this time around.

For Suter, who also turned 36 in January, things are a little different. Though his offensive numbers fell off a cliff this season, recording just 19 points in 56 games, he is still a valuable top-four defenseman that likely could have helped the Wild next season. The key to both buyouts really is that it will open two protection slots in the upcoming expansion draft, which the Wild can use to block Seattle from some of their younger, more valuable assets. Suter and Parise each held a no-movement clause that would have forced Minnesota to protect them in the draft, meaning if this buyout was going to happen, it needed to be done before the protection lists are submitted later this week.

Looking at a cap penalty of nearly $15MM is daunting, but it is important to remember that their regular cap hits would have combined for more than that anyway. If the Wild believe that the two will not be regular contributors in two years, this actually frees up a (small) amount in those seasons as well. Had they waited another year, for instance, there would have been very little cap savings at all, meaning it was a now-or-never situation. The benefit here is opening up more than $10MM (and two expansion slots) at a time when the Wild are looking at key negotiations with Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala. The team has also been loosely connected to players like Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart, who could help fill out the center ice position that has been deemed so important to Kaprizov’s future with the team.

That does not mean it’s the end for Parise and Suter, who will enter the free agent market as attractive assets now that they can be had for a much lower cost. Just yesterday, the Edmonton Oilers for instance traded for Duncan Keith, who will likely cost more than Suter receives on the open market. Though he doesn’t have the kind of playoff success that Keith does, there’s certainly going to be a market for the 36-year-old defenseman. Parise’s might be a bit smaller, but remember he is still only a year removed from a 25-goal campaign and has more than 800 points in his NHL career. For a contender looking to add depth to the lineup for a reasonable price, there are worse gambles to make.

Michael Russo of The Athletic broke the news on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Wild Notes: Dumba, Parise, First Round Picks

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Although the Minnesota Wild played well in their seven-game first round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, losing with dignity to one of the best teams in the NHL this season, their loss has already fired the rumor mill back up, reports Sarah MacLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. At the center of the speculation yet again is defenseman Matt Dumba. Despite another strong season for the 26-year-old blue liner, capped off by a postseason in which he tied for the team lead in points, there is still speculation over Dumba’s future in Minnesota stemming from the impending NHL Expansion Draft. The Wild can only protect three defensemen and seven forwards or instead eight skaters total from selection by the Seattle Kraken. With Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin all carrying No-Movement Clauses, the trio all must be protected. The only way that the team can use the 7-3 format and also protect Dumba would be fore one those three to waive their NMC and allow themselves to be exposed. Otherwise, the Wild will have to protect eight skaters, but with Zach Parise and Mats Zuccarello also with No-Movement Clauses, this would mean Minnesota would have to leave multiple promising young forwards exposed in order to make room for Dumba, including at least one of Joel Eriksson Ek or Jordan Greenway. One thing that is certain is that Minnesota will not let Dumba be taken for free by future Western Conference rival Seattle. If the team cannot convince a veteran to waive their NMC and decide the 7-3 protection scheme is their best choice, Dumba will be traded before the Expansion Draft – hence the abundant speculation. Dumba has stated many times that he would like to remain with the Wild, so the organization is obviously doing all they can to make it work.

  • Another player who would like to stay in Minnesota is Parise. The 36-year-old is coming off of a down year and was even benched for the first three games of the Wild’s first round series. However, he impressed in the remainder of the series once activated. Parise can still play at a high level, but not commensurate to his $7.5MM+ cap hit over four more years. The Wild have tried to move the contract in the past and may do so again this summer, but Parise hopes they don’t. He told Dane Mizutani of TwinCities.com that he “[doesn’t] want to play anywhere else” but for his hometown team. As Mizutani points out, he shouldn’t be too worried given his albatross of a contract. Ironically though, one way that Parise could prove his loyalty to the club would be to waive his NMC for the Expansion Draft, allowing Minnesota to protect all of Dumba, Eriksson Ek, and Greenway in an 8-skater format. There is no way that Seattle would touch Parise’s contract, so it could be a win-win for both sides.
  • While the Wild are certainly not looking forward to the Expansion Draft – even if Dumba, Eriksson Ek, and Greenway are safe, the team will still lose a good player like Carson Soucy or Marcus Foligno – they are definitely excited for the NHL Entry Draft. With the Pittsburgh Penguins opting to send their 2021 first-round pick rather than their 2020 for last year’s Jason Zucker trade, the Wild will now have two picks in the top 32 this year. Not only that, but they will have two picks very close together as well. Minnesota’s own pick is locked in at No. 22 overall, but if the Tampa Bay Lightning advance to the next round, Pittsburgh’s pick will be No. 25, allowing the Wild to control the board with two picks out of four selections. They could also look to package the two picks to potentially move up into the top half of the first round. With a pipeline that is already well-stocked, Minnesota has put themselves in position to stay competitive for a long time with a strong roster and deep system after adding two first-rounders this year, as well as all of their own picks and another Pittsburgh pick in the third round.

Evening Notes: Travel Exemption, Brodin, Suter

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At the Toronto Maple Leafs-Montreal Canadiens game this evening, there are fans in the building for the first time in Canada since March 2020. It’s not a full building, but it’s a start for all the Canadian hockey fans that have been forced to watch their favorite team from home the last 14 months.

One question still remains about the playoffs, however, as it is not immediately clear how the league will go about a third-round series between the North Division winner and a U.S.-based team. There had been talk of a potential hub city plan, with the Canadian team moving south of the border, but Darren Dreger of TSN reports that a travel exemption is expected at some point which would allow games to be played in both home cities. As with anything these days, nothing can be taken for granted until it is official, which Dreger reiterates is not the case just yet.

  • The Minnesota Wild have some time to decompress and deal with any ailments now that they have been eliminated from the playoffs, but at least one injured player will avoid surgery. Jonas Brodin suffered an AC join injury in his left shoulder last night, but according to Michael Russo of The Athletic, he will not require surgery.
  • The focus for the Wild though is how they tweak the roster after a strong but ultimately unsuccessful first round against the Vegas Golden Knights. Zach Parise talked to reporters including Sarah McLellan of the Star-Tribune, but couldn’t really explain what’s going to happen to him after a trying year. Parise ended up as a healthy scratch in the playoffs but still has four years left on his 13-year, $98MM contract. “We’ll see where it goes. I don’t know. I don’t know,” Parise told McLellan. “We’ll have to figure that out in the coming summer what’s going to happen, but I don’t really have an answer on that right now”

Injury Updates: McAvoy, Hagg, Hischier, Wild

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The Bruins got some more bad news on the injury front as just prior to their game against Philadelphia, the team announced (Twitter link) that Charlie McAvoy was a late scratch due to an upper-body injury.  The 23-year-old has been a key cog on their back end this season, leading the way offensively with 22 points in 35 games while averaging a team-high 24:23 in ice time.  For context, he’s the only regular Boston blueliner averaging more than 20 minutes a night.  Adding help on the back end has seemingly been a goal for the Bruins dating back to last offseason and if McAvoy is going to miss any extended period of time, that need will only intensify.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Flyers defenseman Robert Hagg is a couple of days away from returning to the lineup, relays Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has been out for the last three weeks with a shoulder injury and is averaging three hits a game in 21 appearances so far this season.
  • New Jersey center Nico Hischier has resumed skating as he works his way back from nasal surgery three weeks ago, notes Sam Kasan of the Devils’ team website. It has been a tough season for their new captain as the 22-year-old has been limited to just five games between this, a stint on the CPRA list, and an offseason leg injury.
  • Wild center Nick Bjugstad (upper body) is being evaluated to see if he’s able to play on Wednesday after leaving Monday’s contest early, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Meanwhile, winger Mats Zuccarello (lower body) skated today and is questionable for Wednesday after missing the last two games due to the injury.  As for Zach Parise, he is expected to be available to play tomorrow, his first appearance since being put into COVID protocols last month.

Zach Parise To Be Scratched By Minnesota Wild

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The Minnesota Wild will not have one of the cornerstones of their franchise in the lineup on Wednesday night, as according to Michael Russo of The Athletic, Zach Parise will be made a healthy scratch. This will be the first time Parise has been a healthy scratch since signing a 13-year, $98MM contract to join the Wild in 2012.

The Wild have recalled Gerald Mayhew and Kyle Rau from the taxi squad, as Ryan Hartman is also expected to miss the game with an injury, but the big news here is Parise. Now 36, the star forward has racked up 801 points in a 1,034-game NHL career, including nine this season in 19 games. Russo connects the scratch to the end of Monday’s game, where Parise was on the ice for more than a minute and a half. The Vegas Golden Knights ended up tying the game with Parise on the ice, then winning in overtime.

Parise hasn’t been as effective this season but has long been one of the most marketable players in Minnesota, racking up points and goals on the regular. He’ll be 37 this summer though, and new GM Bill Guerin will have to make some tough decisions. There are still four years remaining on that contract and though it includes a full no-movement clause, Parise actually waived it last year to potentially go to the New York Islanders and rejoin Lou Lamoriello, the executive who drafted him with the New Jersey Devils in 2003.

It’s not at all clear if Parise will be dealt at some point this season, given how difficult it is to trade a contract like his, but there’s an obvious change coming in Minnesota. The team is rejuvenated with a new star at the forefront in Kirill Kaprizov, and they sit in a playoff spot today in the West Division. A scratch may be a one-time thing, but a quick look at Parise’s ice time numbers this season shows a player that is slowly being phased out. After averaging at least 17 minutes a night in every season since his rookie year, he’s well under that mark now and played just 12:42 in a game against the Los Angeles Kings last week.

Parise and teammate Ryan Suter signed identical contracts in that summer of 2012, ones that would not be allowed under today’s CBA. The 13-year deals are so heavily front-loaded that the last three years see just $4MM in total salary paid out. Those numbers mean that Minnesota would be on the hook for recapture penalties if Parise retires early, something that potentially could be out of their hands if he is traded to another team. It does mean however that anyone acquiring him wouldn’t be shelling out the $7.54MM that his cap hit indicates. After this season, just $10MM remains to be paid to the veteran forward.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

New York Islanders Pursuing Zach Parise

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According to Frank Seravalli of TSN, the New York Islanders are working to acquire Zach Parise from the Minnesota Wild. The Islanders would be sending Andrew Ladd back in a potential deal, though the trade is not complete at this point and there would likely be additional pieces involved. Parise obviously has a link to Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello after playing the first part of his career in New Jersey. Michael Russo of The Athletic tweets that Parise is willing to waive his no-move clause if it does come together.

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