Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Globe --- Before Sunday’s market opening, GM Peter Chiarelli said he expected to be quiet. The Bruins have less than $3 million in available cap space.Obviously, the Boston Bruins didn’t have a lot of space to work with and they would have had to makes some moves to get under the cap. Could Bruins fans imagine how he would have looked in the B’s line up skating alongside a couple of the Bruins faster forwards like Patrice Bergeron and say the “Little Ball of Hate” Brad Marchand.
Had the Bruins signed Parise, they would have exceeded the $70.2 million cap by the allowable 10 percent offseason margin. They could have placed Marc Savard on long-term injured reserve if necessary.
Parise said his final decision came between Minnesota and New Jersey. Parise is a Minnesota native. The left wing had previously played for the Devils his entire career.
Parise, the ex-captain of the Devils, was one of the two high-end free agents available on the market. Ryan Suter was the other. Both signed identical deals with the Wild.
NEW YORK (AP) --- The New York Rangers have added grit and experience to their lineup by reaching a deal with forward Arron Asham on the first day of NHL free agency.It’s no mystery why Bickel is playing with the New York Rangers - the slow foot defensman Bickel played minuscule minutes during the Rangers playoff push and was seen as a defensive liability at crucial times.
A 13-season NHL veteran, Asham spent the past two years with Pittsburgh. He had five goals and 11 assists in 64 games last season. Overall, he has 92 goals and 206 points in 756 career games split between five teams.
Asham broke into the NHL in 1998 with Montreal, and has also played for the Islanders, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
Earlier on Sunday, the Rangers agreed to re-sign defenseman Stu Bickel, who had nine assists in 51 games in his first NHL season last year. New York had acquired Bickel in a trade with Anaheim in November 2010.
Joan Niesen, FSN.COM --- Parise said he treats his impending free agency as something he can take advantage of, but it would seem that balancing his sanity with the desire to get the most out of this summer is something he's grappling with daily. Talk to Parise for five minutes and who knows how many times he'll say he wants to minimize the stress of the process. However, coming home to Minneapolis this offseason, though a natural move, is unlikely to mitigate the constant scrutiny.
Parise grew up in Bloomington, Minn. His father, J.P., played for the North Stars, and Parise still keeps a house in the Twin Cities, which he returned to last Friday from New Jersey. That's why he made an appearance Wednesday at the Defending the Blue Line game on the University of Minnesota campus, where he signed autographs and watched from the bench. As an unsigned player, Parise did not compete with the local hockey stars who took the ice. Instead, he subjected himself to the barrage of questions he's mostly unable to answer.
On Tuesday morning Paul Allen had Michael Russo beat writer of the Minnesota Wild from the Minneapolis Star and Tribune on the KFAN 100.3 and the two of them discussed the Parise free agency story and where they think that Zach might go. Russo seems to think that if the Wild get Parise that they might have a good chance to get Predators’ defenseman Ryan Sutter. You can listen to P.A.’s interview of Russo from the podcast that is embedded below in the blog post.
Judd Zulgad, 1500ESPN.com --- Former North Stars president and general manager Lou Nanne confirmed as much on Tuesday during his weekly appearance on "Reusse and Mackey" on 1500 ESPN. Nanne said that after talking to Wild owner Craig Leipold last week he believes, "the Wild are going to throw the kitchen sink" at the winger in order to land him.When Parise asked about his future the Devils captain wasn’t ready to talk about the issue.
Nanne said he thinks the fact the financially strapped Devils lost in the Cup finals make it less likely that Parise will stick with that organization. Parise has spent his seven-year NHL career with New Jersey and served as the team's captain.
"I was under the belief that he would have to win the Cup to come to Minnesota until I talked to Craig Leipold last week," Nanne said. "I've gotta tell you, the Wild are going to throw the kitchen sink at him. I think there's a good chance he ends up in Minnesota, because I don't see anybody in the National Hockey League willing to give as much to Parise as the Wild are going to be willing to give. So I would not be surprised if Zach Parise came home."
Nanne went on to say that the Wild will pursue Parise and Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter, who also will be a free agent on July 1.
“I’m not going to talk about that,” the Devils captain said. “I’m not going to talk about that.”Now that the Stanley Cup Finals are over the six-10 million dollar question is where is former Fighting Sioux All-American forward Zach Parise is going to sign after the July first? I have seen where the Rangers, Redwings, Wild, Bruins and Kings as potential teams where he might end up. I wouldn’t rule New Jersey out either; apparently the New Jersey Devils made 32 million dollars into their coffers off of their Stanley Cup Playoff run.
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| Zach Parise & his fans (Photo credit: New Jersey State Library) |
Larry Brooks, New York Post --- Parise, who will turn 28 next month, could attract offers of up to 12 years. He will certainly receive front-loaded, bonus-laden offers from the Rangers and Red Wings, who have millions to spend and the inclination to do so.
The Wild will be in, though Parise might want to think more than twice about going home to join a team in which he would be the best player by leaps and bounds.
The Sharks could be in. The Maple Leafs will be, though current general manager Brian Burke doesn’t believe in front-loaded deals. The Bruins could become a serious contender. There will be others.
Given the financial realities in New Jersey, it’s almost impossible to conjure the scenario in which ownership could cut Parise a $10 million check on July 2. And again, that’s even assuming Parise’s first choice is to remain a Devil.
He is one today and will be one tonight. But once the puck is dropped, the clock will be ticking on the Devils’ season and on the captain’s career in New Jersey.
T-minus-60 and counting.
There was a big scrum around Devils winger Zach Parise, and Parise almost had to break up a fight between reporters. The two men were jockeying for position with their tape recorder and microphone, respectively, when one yelled ``Stop it!’’ while Parise was talking.
The reporter smacked his notebook against the microphone, then used the spirals to run it down the microphone to impair the sound. Eventually, Parise was hit in the face by the microphone.
``Do we need to start this over?’’ Parise asked the men.
If they were wearing gloves, they would’ve dropped them right there.
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| CBS New York |
Jim Matheson, edmontonjournal.com --- Has there been a hotter ticket than New Jersey Devils forward Zach Parise on the free-agent stage in the last 10 years?One can only speculate where Parise going after the July 1st when free agent can begin signing contracts with other clubs. You can bet that the Wild are going to be in the running and Michael Russo has basically stated that the Wild will give him the money he wants if he decided to come to Minnesota. With all of the young recruits in the pipeline ready to step up for the Wild this “might” be enough to convinced Parise to say yes to the Minnesota Wild. Or not! I guess we will find out around July, 1st?
You can see how badly he wants to win, the pistons pumping as he hunts down a loose puck in the neutral zone and sends it into the open net to ensure the Game 5 win for the Devils at Madison Square Garden.
He’s the engine that drives the Devils, with due respect to the big wheel Ilya Kovalchuk, who is much better than I thought he’d ever be when they gave him that lifetime contract as a free agent.
But how can there be room for both players next season and beyond when the Devils ownership is an absolute mess and Parise can easily get $8 million US on the open market?
The Devils have no wiggle room because Elias ($6 million) and Dainius Zubrus ($3.4 million) aren’t unrestricted free agents until July 2013, the same with Marek Zidlicky on defence.
There are four scenarios: Parise stays in New Jersey; he goes to Detroit, where the Red Wings will sell him on playing with Pavel Datsyuk, he slides over to the New York Rangers; or Parise, who turns 28 in July, goes home to suit up for the Minnesota Wild.
In Minnesota, the citizenry are awash with expectations that Parise might want to come home. His dad, J.P., runs the hockey program at the exclusive Shattuck St. Mary’s prep school and Parise’s girlfriend is from North Dakota and one of J.P.’s best friends is former North Stars GM Lou Nanne, who holds significant sway in that area. But then again, plenty of NHLers don’t want the pressure of playing before friends and family.Please Zach come to the state of hockey…
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| NJ.COM |
Larry Wigge --- Travis Zajac and Zach Parise go together like two peas in a pod.
They are center and winger, both from the University of North Dakota. Both worked well together there, so why not in the NHL. They feed off one another.
Zajac is the straw that stirs the drink and prefers to stay in the background to Parise's star status.
The secret is out, Zajac is a star too.
For much of the 2011-12 season, Zajac was a lost man ... a player without a team.
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| English: Zach Parise (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Sid Hartman, Star Tribune --- Lou Nanne, whom I describe as Mr. Hockey in this state, has been a close friend of J.P. Parise (Zach's father and a former Minnesota North Star) for a long, long time, and he has been a confidant of young Parise since the young man hung around local NHL teams.
Nanne is convinced that the Wild would have a good chance of signing Parise if New Jersey is fortunate enough to win the Stanley Cup -- they have a 3-2 lead on the Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals.
Parise has been great for New Jersey in the playoffs, with 14 points in 17 games on seven goals and seven assists.
"If Jersey does win, it could really benefit the Wild because Zach Parise is a free agent and he wants to win a Cup," Nanne said. "It might be tough for him to come here right away, but if he wins a Cup in New Jersey then that goal has already been met and then it might be really reasonable for him to come to the Wild as a free agent."
Nanne said Parise hasn't ruled out signing with anyone.
