Zach Parise Confirms he is Headed to the Islanders

Zach Parise is an Islander.

The veteran forward confirmed to The Athletic’s Michael Russo that he has agreed to terms on a deal with the New York Islanders and will be heading to Long Island later this month. The contract has not officially been registered with the NHL, which has been the Islanders MO this offseason up until Wednesday when they announced the signings of Casey Cizikas, Anthony Beauvillier, Kyle Palmieri and Ilya Sorokin.

A league source had told NYI Hockey Now last month that Parise would be signing with the Islanders.

Zach Parise, 37, played in 45 games for the Minnesota Wild last season, with seven goals and 11 assists before being bought out in the middle of his 13-year, $98 million contract in July. The Minnesota native spent nine years in his home state before seeing his role limited and his playing time dwindle.

The 13:57 of ice time he averaged last year was the lowest he had played since his rooking season with the New Jersey Devils during the 2005-06 season.

“I had my expectations heading into last season and where I fit in on the team,” Parise told the Pioneer Press in July. “Then it shakes out the way it did. I never questioned whether I was good enough to play in the NHL. Just unfortunate the way it ended up working out during the season. It wasn’t fun, I’ll say that much.”

Zach Parise will have a chance to redeem himself with the Islanders, who will look to him to be a veteran presence and help on special teams. Parise will also likely slot into the third line alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and potentially Oliver Wahlstrom or Palmieri.

While Parise may have had a down year offensively this past season, the prior two years he had recorded 25 or more goals.

The forward’s arrival on Long Island completes a transaction that general manager Lou Lamoriello had tried to pull off during the 2019-20 season. Lamoriello and Minnesota GM Bill Guerin attempted to work out a deal to send Parise to the Islanders at the trade deadline in a move that would have sent Andrew Ladd to the Gopher State.

The deal fell through because of the complicated financial maneuvering that would have needed to be done.

Parise is well known to Islanders fans already because of his seven seasons playing for the New Jersey Devils. His father, the late J.P. Parise, also donned the blue and orange from 1974 to 1978.