In his two seasons with the New York Islanders, Zach Parise revitalized his career.
He was the consummate teammate, leader and person, doing so all the while living hundreds of miles away from his family in Minnesota.
That distance is what ultimately brought Parise to the decision of not signing with a team as an unrestricted free agent this past summer and instead opting to stay at home to start the year without ever officially retiring. Islanders president Lou Lamoriello and Parise himself have both previously stated their desire to someday make him part of the team once again. Now, though, that mutually beneficial partnership seems to be on the horizon.
According to reports, Parise is attempting to a comeback to the NHL, presumably to make another run at winning his first Stanley Cup.
While the Islanders haven’t displayed the classic traits of a Cup-contending team thus far, the addition of Parise could help elevate them in that conversation.
In his age 38 season with the Islanders, the 18th of his NHL career last year, Parise totaled 21 goals, third most on the team, and proved to be their iron man, playing on both special team units without missing a game for the second consecutive year.
When Parise took his hiatus, the Islanders had to have contingency plans in place to fill his void. Thus far, they’ve all panned out.
Simon Holmstrom is emerging as one the league’s best two-way threats, playing in Parise’s spot on the Islanders’ third line and penalty-kill. Meanwhile, Julien Gauthier has found his footing, and Hudson Fasching has been as rock steady as ever.
Islanders head coach Lane Lambert will be hard-pressed to take either of those three out of the lineup for a returning Parise who hasn’t faced NHL competition in over eight months.
Perhaps Parise is willing to return to the team in a depth role–similar to the one Phil Kessel filled for the Vegas Golden Knights last season but far more serviceable–and work his way into the lineup from there. That would likely push Oliver Wahlstrom further down the depth chart and make it easier for the Islanders to trade him as they tried to over the summer.
Even still, the Islanders now have far greater needs than what Parise can provide them.
Currently, three of the Islanders’ top defensemen are on injured reserve. While new additions Mike Reilly and Robert Bortuzzo have filled in nicely, stabilizing the backend is a much higher priority than adding depth to an already deep forward corps.
