NY Islanders Zach Parise wants to return next season

It's safe to say that the NY Islanders scored when the Minnesota Wild decided to buy out Zach Parise two summers ago. Following the buyout that will pay Parise a total of $6,666,664 through 2028-29, Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello circled back to the forward he drafted in 2003, 17th overall when they were part of the New Jersey Devils organization and signed him to a one-year, league minimum contract. This past summer, Parise earned himself the same contract to return for his age-38 season and has gone on the record to state he would like to return to play in the NHL again next season.

Parise proved to be one of the best bang for your buck player in the NHL last season scoring 15 goals and 35 points over 82 games. In fact, he was the only Islanders skater last season to play in every single game as the rest of the roster missed at least one or more games due to injury or Covid-related absences.

The 38-year-old forward followed the 2021-22 season with an even better 2022-23 as he's scored 20 goals and 32 points in 78 games so far. The Islanders have four games left to play this season.

Parise will be 39 years old next season and although the Islanders want to ideally get younger, Parise shows no signs of slowing down with two identical performances in back to back seasons and displaying his ability to still keep NHL pace. In fact, there's an argument to be made that he's still an above average skater. Add the fact that he became the ninth different player in the past 43 years to record a goal streak of four-plus games at age 38 or older and the first to do so since Justin Williams, there's reason to believe he's got plenty left in the tank.

It shouldn't surprise anyone to see Parise return again next season on the same contract he's currently under as he will still also be collecting a check from the Wild for a long, long time.