Zach Parise throws some shade at Wild after joining Islanders

Zach Parise is now officially a member of the New York Islanders after agreeing to a one-year contract with what is now his third National Hockey League franchise. 

The former captain of the New Jersey Devils, Parise made headlines alongside defenseman Ryan Suter when they both were signed to identical 13 year, $98 million contracts by the Minnesota Wild in the summer of 2012. Despite lofty expectations, the pair weren't ever able to lead Minnesota beyond the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

While Suter remained a steady blue liner, Parise saw his production and ice time fall in recent years, culminating in just seven goals and 11 assists for the Wild last season while averaging less than 14 minutes a game, the lowest since his rookie campaign of 2005-06. The Wild made the decision to buy them both out; Suter subsequently signed a multi-year deal with the Dallas Stars. 

Parise is once again joining forces with Lou Lamoriello, who was president and general manager of the Devils at the same time he was skating on the ice for them. And according to Parise, the Wild didn't think that he had any good hockey left in him. 

"A lot of mixed emotions after [getting bought out] but still some sense of relief at the same time," Parise said. "When something like that does happen, yeah, of course you want to get back to work right away and be ready for the following season.  

"I know personally that I've still got a lot of good hockey left in me, but they didn't see it like that. To me it made it a unique but pretty exciting summer with just a little extra motivation to, I don't know if it's prove them wrong, but just to know for myself."

You can bet that Parise will arrive at training camp later this month motivated to show that he can still be a productive player in the NHL. He's also only seven tallies away from reaching 400 career goals. 

In 1,060 career games with the Devils and Wild, Parise has lit the lamp 393 times to go with 417 assists for 810 career points, along with 384 PIM.