Islanders Interested In Both Zach Parise & Ryan Suter

With free agency set to begin in six days the rumors have been flying all over the place for the New York Islanders. The latest one, according to Larry Brooks, is that Lou Lamoriello is interested in adding both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.

This just makes so much sense. For starters, Zach Parise is the perfect kind of depth piece that Lou Lamoriello loves on his teams.

Lamoriello drafted Parise back in 2003 with the Devils and then just over a year ago tried to trade for him too. There’s clearly a mutual interest and even though he’s turning 37 next week, the guy can still play.

Last year he had 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) in 45 games (a pace of 33 points). Each of the previous two years though, he put up 25 goals. Sure, he won’t be asked to play big minutes anymore but putting him next to Pageau and Wahlstrom on the third line is rather enticing.

As for Suter, he’s a great fit for this team after losing Nick Leddy to Detroit in a trade. Last year, he had 19 points (3 goals, 16 assists) in 56 games with the Wild. Which would pace him out to 28 over a full season.

The three years prior? 48, 47, and 51. He’s 36 years old but is still capable of playing big minutes as he averaged 22:11 of ice time last season and was fairly effective still, at least offensively.

This past year wasn’t great for him in the power play but he still could at a minimum be a wash with Nick Leddy at a likely cheaper price at this point in his career.

Neither of these guys are in their prime anymore, but the Islanders aren’t asking them to be in big-time roles. Suter at a maximum would be on the second pair and split time on the power play and Parise would get third-line minutes.

To me, these are two very solid depth options that I’d be extremely excited about adding. It wouldn’t be the “big splash” and there would need to be more added but it at minimum would be a solid start.