New Jersey Devils: Zach Parise Was A Steal In 2003 NHL Draft

The New Jersey Devils struck gold in the greatest draft in the history of the National Hockey League when they took Zach Parise at 17th overall.

The New Jersey Devils were the defending Stanley Cup Champions when they hit the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Their original pick belonged to the St. Louis Blues and they had the Blues 22nd overall pick. Well, New Jersey traded up to pick 17 to select Zach Parise from the University of North Dakota. We didn’t know that it would go on to be one of the best drafts in league history and that the Devils were one of the big winners.

At pick 17, the Devils got an absolute steal with Parise. He has gone on to be one of the best players in this class. You could even make an argument that he would be the number one overall pick if the draft was re-done but you can say with certainty that he would be in the top-five.  Players like Patrice Bergeron, Ryan Getzlaf, Marc-Andre Fleury, Joe Pavelski, and Eric Staal amongst others have had great careers as well.

Parise ended up playing for the Devils for seven years. He had 194 goals and 216 assists for 410 points in 502 games played with them. He also made the playoffs with New Jersey in every year of his career except one and that one year they didn’t make it, he only played 13 games. His final year with the Devils saw him assume the role of captain and they went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. They were defeated by the Los Angeles Kings in six games and that was his last game with New Jersey.

He signed a 13-year deal worth 90 million dollars on July 4th, 2012 with the Minnesota Wild and has been playing with them ever since. He was a great player for New Jersey but he ultimately chose to go play in his hometown state. It was a deal that left a big hole in the Devils lineup and they are just now starting to be able to fill that void.

Parise, to this day, stands the test of time with this draft. Two or three might be able to claim they were a little better but Parise is still going strong. He had  25 goals and 21  assists for 46 points in 69 games for Minnesota this year. Those numbers aren’t bad for a 35-year-old winger. He ranks second (Eric Staal, 436) in goals from his draft class with 386 and fifth in points with 792.

The 2003 Draft was the best ever because of how many star NHL players that came out of it. There were also some who didn’t fare to well that were taken ahead of him. The New York Rangers drafted Hugh Jessiman with the 12th overall pick and the Columbus Blue Jackets took Nikolai Zherdev with the fourth pick. Parise falling to the Devils was lucky for them and a good job by Lou Lamoriello to trade up to get him.