Detroit Red Wings: 6 Free Agent forwards to strongly consider signing
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Red Wings should take a flier on Zach Parise.
The veteran forward was recently bought out by the Minnesota Wild but could find a top-nine role with a team like the rebuilding Detroit Red Wings.
Zach Parise turns 37-years old today (July 28th) and is certainly close to calling it a career. Still, if he finds that his potential suitors on the open market are drying up, the Red Wings could always plug the veteran winger in on the third line alongside a Michael Rasmussen and Adam Erne.
Last season Parise recorded seven goals and totaled 18 points for the Wild. He skated with a plus 8 rating but produced a poor Corsi For Percentage of 43.8% while averaging just under 14 minutes of ice-time per night.
Parise fits the mold of a perfect rental on a one-year deal and potential trade deadline chip to move for a mid-round pick to a playoff team looking to add a reliable, proven, fourth-line winger with a scoring touch.
Although Parise’s offensive output dried up last season, he produced 28 and 25 goal seasons respectfully before that. During that two-year span from 2018-19 to 2019-20, Parise recorded 107 points in 143 games.
The recently bought out Parise should garner plenty of attention from playoff teams, and those are the teams he’d likely take a discount to join, but if Yzerman comes up with a one-year offer of around $3-million, I’d be ok adding the veteran winger to the youthful Red Wings locker room for a season.
Similar players to also consider; Eric Staal, Tomas Tatar, Bobby Ryan.