Yes Zach Parise has signed a 1 year, $6 million deal with the New Jersey Devils while working on a longer contract extension. Now New Jersey can negotiate an extension after January 1st, 2012. So keep this in mind. The number one question will be is how healthy is Parise? He played hurt last year and that did not sit well with the Devils organization. Facts are facts here.
When Parise is healthy he is a 90 point a year guy maybe close to 100 under the right circumstance. Yes some good teammates have been traded but that could be a message that tells him to wake up and show me you are worth a long term deal or get out. This is a business and amongst fantasy hockey owners, they know that this is a make or break year for Parise. People will be looking early at him to see how he looks.
Now it is time to show you the numbers so you can be the judge because this is going to be a fun and interesting season for all Parise owners.
Zach Parise Career Numbers:
| Yr | Tm | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | ATI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05-06 | NJD | 81 | 14 | 18 | 32 | -1 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 133 | 13:08 |
| 06-07 | NJD | 82 | 31 | 31 | 62 | -3 | 30 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 247 | 17:32 |
| 07-08 | NJD | 81 | 32 | 33 | 65 | 13 | 25 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 266 | 18:04 |
| 08-09 | NJD | 82 | 45 | 49 | 94 | 30 | 24 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 364 | 18:45 |
| 09-10 | NJD | 81 | 38 | 44 | 82 | 24 | 32 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 347 | 19:46 |
| 10-11 | NJD | 13 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 49 | 19:51 |
| Car | 420 | 163 | 178 | 341 | 62 | 145 | 44 | 2 | 34 | 1406 | 17:32 |
So obviously the knee injury is a huge issue and concern. He was out even longer than most thought which means yes he played with the injury foolishly and his recovery did not pan out quite like it was expected. The hardest thing to get back is the ability to produce. Parise may be 100% now with the help of a power skating coach but the other ingreidents to goal scoring and fantasy success have to be there. Are they there? Well it involves more than Parise. It involves who he plays with and chemistry as well. Clearly he will not play with Kovalchuk.
Also think of the trades that have been made. Brian Rolston, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Jason Arnott are all gone. That is something to note but at the same time it is the time for Parise to man up and perform. If he can, he will get his extension. If he does not, he will be gone. That is what it is at stake for all (Parise, the Devils, fantasy owners, and opposition alike).
The tough part is trying to guess who he is even going to play with but one has to think that Parise plays with Patrik Elias, who can bring Parise back to his former status. Hell he made Brian Rolston fantasy relevant as Rolston had 29 points in his last 41 games in New Jersey. Elias is a playmaker bar none who can create his own offense and can help Parise get his scoring touch back which will be needed early as the Devils will desperately try to avoid the horrific start that plagued them last year.
So getting into shape will be the first essential step with the contract now done. Next will be getting into hockey playing shape and then developing that scoring touch that got lost with the knee injury (torn meniscus).
The belief is it will take some time for Parise to get going but there is no reason why he cannot produce at near a point a game. The biggest beneficiary may just be Mattias Tedenby, who would almost be a perfect Right Winger to play with these two guys. Ilya Kovalchuk will likely be on the PP1 for New Jersey so that would be a huge boost as well along with Elias. It would not surprise me to see Parise have a torrid December which would lead to an extension and a very nice second half.
Right now a true projection would be tough but we are going to take a stab with a few scenarios.
If touch is there and 100%: 75-80+ points
If a slow start but 100%: 65-70 points
If still hurting and bad line chemistry: 55-60 points
He is still going to produce but will it be at the level of Parise expected production? His last two seasons were 94 and 82 points respectively. Also he cranked out over 300 shots (366 and 347) as well with a shooting percentage over the magic 10% number. Parise can be a 40 goal scorer even this year if everything breaks right. Honestly, stay tuned ladies and gentlemen. We will have more on Parise as the summer goes on.
What say you hockey fans? Can Zach Parise recapture the magic or will it take more time than anyone thinks? Have at it!
