The New Jersey Devils and winger Zach Parise have come to terms. After what seemed to be a a guaranteed arbitration hearing, both sides have agreed to a 1 year 6 million dollar contract.
The 26 year old Minnesota native was one of the hot topics of the off-season. Parise, who was a restricted free agent, had the possibility of becoming an unrestricted free agent if the bargaining between the two sides went sour. Had Parise become an unrestricted free agent, Parise could have been approached by other NHL team with contract offers. The talented young player would have definitely had his pick of the litter.
Parise is coming off of an injured 2010-2011 NHL season. He injured his knee during off-season training, opting to play through the pain. Unfortunately hockey is a rough sport, and to his disliking, Parise missed the majority of the season due to exploratory arthroscopic surgery.
The winger broke into the NHL in the 2005-2006 season with the devils and posted a respectable 32 points in 81 games played. Over the next 4 seasons, Parise totaled 303 points in 326 games. His high, only to this point in his career, was 45 goals and 49 assists totaling 94 points in 82 games played. Simply put, Parise is the real deal.
As noted earlier, the Devils and Parise have avoided arbitration and have agreed to a 1 year 6 million dollar contract. In looking at this, the length of the contract, I do not believe Parise will play with the Devils beyond the 2011-2012 season. For Parise, this means that the upcoming NHL season is a season where he needs to not only prove his worth, but play to a caliber that would warrant a big contract. For you as a fan and a fantasy player, this means Parise is going to be putting up big points, upwards of 90+ points. So who might he rival next year? Both Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and yes, Alexander Ovechkin will return to the mix of scoring leaders. Oh, one more guy would be a healthy Sidney Crosby.
Parise has one more year as a Devil and he’s jumping ship. If you are sitting in the third to seventh spot in your draft, Parise would be a good option to take.
If Parise went to arbitration could they award multi year deals? I’m just curious if New Jersey could have waited and locked him up for a little longer. Though the devils may have wanted to see how he comes back from the surgery before locking up long term. If Parise gets hurt this season (knee or not) he could be missing out on a huge pay day.
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My understanding is that most arbitration awards are for one year, but some come back with two year awards, but nothing more. In either case, the team always has an option to walk away from the contract and allow the player to become an unrestricted free agent, but with a player of Parise’s caliber, you then lose a superstar with nothing in return. The better bet is to sign the player and then if a longer term salary can’t be agreed upon, trade the player and get assets in return.
I believe the Devils essentially did that. They locked up Parise for a year at least, giving them more time to work out a long term deal for a reasonable price. However, when the trade deadline hits this season, if Parise and the Devils haven’t agreed to a long-term deal, it’s likely the team will trade Parise to the highest bidder.
Honestly? My bet is that Parise isn’t a Devil by the end of the season…but we’ll see how it all plays out…
I commented on the Weber Arbitration article. If the Devils filed for the arbitration I think it would have kept Parise off the market but the club has to pay him whatever the decision was. Granted Nashville has a lot more space to the top of the cap then New Jersey. It just seems to me like it could be safer.
I also can’t see him staying in New Jersey unless he and Kovy turn into must see TV and are scoring like crazy. Both guys are more shooter type though so I’m not sure if there is enough puck to go around.
[…] 27 year old to a multi-year deal. What looked like an inevitable arbitration hearing, the two sides finally agreed upon a 1-year, $6 million dollar contract. For Devil’s fans, this was a step in the right direction in keeping Parise long term. For […]