New Jersey Devils: The Annual Return Of Our Loyal Captain
I’m sorry. I will never get over the Zach Parise departure scenario. If Zach wanted to leave, our loyal captain should have told Lou Lamoriello well in advance so he could have been traded for some prospects. Alternatively, if Zach did tell Lou, and Lou ignored it , that’s on the Devils.
Either way, Parise and then Ilya Kovalchuk leaving without compensation set the Devils back a good two to three years.
I’m a Devils fan. I understand that I’m supposed to despise the New York Rangers more than any other club. But there is a team I dislike far more. Maybe it is irrational, I admit it. But it’s true, I want tonight’s visitors to the Rock, the Minnesota Wild, to fail more than any other team in the NHL. Why? Because our “loyal captain” Zack Parise plays for them, of course.
Parise leaving the Devils in a manner where New Jersey received no compensation was a huge blow to the club from a talent perspective. You just can’t replace elite players like that who walk out the door with no return compensation.
Parise leaving the Devils in free agency was a dark moment in the team’s storied history.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not necessarily saying Parise had to stay in Newark forever. You want to go home, I get that. Players are not indentured servants, no issues there. But is it too much to ask to figure that out ahead of time? Can the player and the club somehow come to terms with that and move the player to a team which understands he’s a one year rental and get something back for Parise to build for the future?
Looking back, no one really knows what happened. Maybe Parise was totally honest with the club and Lou decided he wanted to go for the Cup and throw the future away. That is not unlike Lou, as we know. That would not surprise me. On the other hand, Zach never came out and said he wanted to leave. Hard to be happy with how either party handled this. Or the result.
From the Devils’ perspective, it is particularly galling. You can’t go through life making short-term decisions setting aside longer-term considerations. Eventually, looking at the world through that prism comes back to haunt you. Choices like that are why the Devils missed the playoffs five consecutive years and why Lamoriello now gets paid with Canadian dollars.
In the end, it has to be said that, thank goodness, things worked out better for the Devils as it pertains to the player. Zach Parise has a $7.5 million cap hit for six additional years after 2017-18. That’s a contract which is almost as bad as Brent Seabrook’s!
For that huge salary cap number, what exactly is Parise’s production? Well, Zach has appeared in 20 games this year. His plus/minus rating is lower than the average temperature in the Minneapolis / St. Paul region during the month of January (-6). And Zach has a whopping 3 goals thus far this season. As a point of comparison, for any of you into soccer, Parise has a tremendous amount in common with one of soccer’s most overvalued players, Manchester United’s Paul Pogba. Parise and Pogba are two guys both with huge over-the-top contracts and three goals to their names this year. Each of these supposed studs are massive disappointments. But I digress.
Next: Possible Trade Deadline Moves For The Devils
Tonight should be interesting to see if Parise’s reception is more, or less, friendly than the exceptionally cordial welcome afforded to Brad Marchand a few weeks ago. There probably are some Devils fans with a warm spot in their heart for Zach who look forward to seeing him tonight. Don’t include me in their ranks.
No, I think what I’d like to see is Eddie Lack getting a shutout helping us to embarrass Minnesota 6-0 or so, Parise being held off the score sheet, and the team bus breaking down at the corner of Market and Mulberry Street after the game! That would sweet.