Boston Bruins: A deal for Zach Parise actually makes sense

Although it may sound absurd, a trade for Zach Parise may actually make a semblance of sense for the Boston Bruins.

The Minnesota Wild are clearly held back by the contract they signed the Minneapolis native to back in 2012. The Boston Bruins could potentially gain some degree of value from Zach Parise, though any sort of deal would need the Wild to take back another Minneapolis-born player, namely David Backes.

While it may not sound ideal for the Boston Bruins to take on a 35 year-old and saddle themselves with six years of term, Parise plays a style that may actually lend to longer-term benefit than the David Backes deal.

If they could convince Minnesota to retain at least thirty percent of his cap hit, he’d be costing them in the realm of $5 million per season. That marks a discount of $1 million per season on Backes. Zach Parise tallied 61 points last season, a significantly more respectable return than David Backes’ meagre 20 points.

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Why would the Minnesota Wild even consider such a deal, given the ongoing retained salary?

Well, they’re a team seeking to rebuild and David Backes is only tied up for two more years, far less time than the joint deals of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.

Intriguingly, the Boston Bruins may not even end up on the hook for the full duration of the contract as Parise has been notoriously injury-prone; perhaps the deal can land on long-term injured reserve eventually.

As for acquiring the player; Zach Parise has shown himself very much able on both the power play and penalty kill. Adding yet another goal scoring threat on the penalty kill would be an excellent option for the Boston Bruins.

However, the issue lands with his most regular position; whilst he has shown versatility in the past having played at center for the New Jersey Devils and has also spent time on the right wing, Zach Parise has more often than not turned out as a left winger.

The challenge with the Boston Bruins would be finding a good spot for him in the line-up; Brad Marchand is the first line left wing and Jake Debrusk laid a strong claim to the second line spot last season. Parise would likely replace Debrusk in that spot unless of course one of them opts for the right wing, thus solving the second line right wing dilemma.

If he can be acquired at a cost saving of $1 million or so per season to the entire roster, it’s a win-win. The term on the contract would eventually be a concern, but you have to assume it’s trade-able provided there’s retained salary involved.

Zach Parise wants a shot at the Stanley Cup; that’s not coming anytime soon realistically for the Minnesota Wild. He could have his chance with the Boston Bruins and David Backes might have some interest in a return to his home state.

The Boston Bruins have the upper-hand here; they can force Minnesota’s hand with regard to salary given that such a deal saves them and makes their rebuild a fair bit easier. You never know, there might even be a value-add of a draft pick in return for taking the lengthy deal of their hands.

Maybe there’s a deal to be made here.