NHL Free Agency: The Zach Parise Pursuit

Zach Parise will test the unrestricted free agent market this summer.

Zach Parise helped lead the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals this season as he was two games away from lifting the cup. Parise is entering unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career this offseason as he will become one of the highest paid players in the NHL as he will probably look for a deal similar to in the range of 10 years and $100 million. Parise will tons of options but where will he be playing next season?

New Jersey Devils
Parise was the captain for New Jersey this past season as he helped lead New Jersey to the Stanley Cup finals and he has been the star for New Jersey for the last few years. Parise has a lot of loyalty to the New Jersey Devils franchise as reports have said tat he would love to stay in Newark next season and for a long time. Parise is the star man for New Jersey and the Devils need to do everything they can to bring back their captain as he is going to be key to their success. Parise has been a 30+ goals, 30+ assists type player for most of his career and he is just entering his prime. New Jersey is definitely the favorite to keep Parise.

Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings have a legacy for being one of hockey's dominant franchises and now they are looking to improve their team to make a run at next year's Stanley Cup and build another dynasty. The Red Wings are weak right now a left wing and have tons of cap space to make two or three big moves in the free agent market. Parise would be the best option for the Red Wings at left wing as he would give them an elite left wing to put beside center Pavel Datsyuk. The Red Wings are a favorite to sign Parise as he would be a perfect fit for the Red Wings and Detroit will do everything they can to sign him.

Los Angeles Kings
The Kings have just won the Stanley Cup and they have tons of cap space this offseason to improve even more as they try to repeat next season. The Kings want hard-nose, tough players that know how to play the game right and Parise fits that exact mold as the Kings need an upgrade at left wing on their first line over Simon Gagne. The Kings could use an elite scorer on the wing opposite Dustin Brown on the first round and Parise would be the perfect leader. Parise plays the game the right way and that is exactly what the Kings need.

Washington Capitals
The Capitals have been told by left winger Alexander Semin that he will be leaving DC this offseason and the Caps will definitely be looking for a replacement who is a team-first player. Parise is exactly that player and a proven as he could be a partof this new style that was brought to the Caps by Dale Hunter and his replacement will continue that mentality. Parise also gives the Caps a slight upgrade over Alexander Semin as Parise is one of hockey's players and has become a major star. The Capitals are the sleeper this offseason to sign Zach Parise as there is a potential fit between the two teams.

Game Seven Saturday

Tonight, there are two big games sevens, one in New York, the other in Los Angeles.

There are two words in sports that are like no other, Game Seven. Game Seven is always the most decisive game as in most sports. Game Seven is winner take all with the loser going home and not getting another shot at a title til next season. Tonight, there are two of these games across the NBA and the NHL as the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Denver Nuggets in LA while the New York Rangers host the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden. All four of these teams want to stay alive but only two of them will, so who will it be?

Kobe is bound for a big game.

Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers
The Nuggets have come from down 3 games to one in the series to force a game seven due to the fact that they are outworking the Lakers over the last two games. The problem for the Lakers has been a lack of effort especially from Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum as neither of them have showed up the last two games. Ty Lawson and Andre Miller has formed a dangerous combo at the point as they both provide different qualities. Miller is more of a distributer while Lawson knows how to get to the basket and score like Tony Parker. Rookie Kenneth Faried has outplayed Pau Gasol in this series but Gasol is a good enough player to have a big game tonight. The matchup of Andrew Bynum and Javale McGee is very interesting as you never know what to expect from these two centers. Kobe has been great throughout the series and a huge game seven is expected from him. The rerturn of Metta World Peace is a huge help to the lineup as he brings a lot of needed energy. The Lakers have been disappointing the last two games with their effort and despite the Nuggets high energy performances, the Lakers will win game seven and book their ticket to a Western Conference semifinal matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Ovechkin vs Lundqvist will be the big matchup

Washington Capitals at New York Rangers
All six games in this series have been exciting as the Caps and the Rangers have both been playing at a high level. After the Rangers loss in game six, John Tortorella gave the shortest press coference ever out of complete frustration with his team's performance. Meanwhile, Dale Hunter was happy with the Caps' Game Six performance. Tortorella and Hunter both have two very different coaching styles. The key for the Caps has been their power play kill while the Rangers are doing their most damage on the power play. The Caps have done well when numbers are even while the Rangers have struggled to score when it's 5-on-5. Both goalies have been impressive as Braden Holtby has been a huge surprise while Henrik Lundqvist has been proving once again why he is one of hockey's best goaltenders. Alex Ovechkin knows exactly where he needs to shoot the puck to score on Lundqvist as he has been finding some great opportunities in space to shoot and score. Derek Stepan was giving himself chances to score as he positioned himself in front of Braden Holtby and played very well, almost scoring. Both teams have played well but Washington has played better than New York 5-on-5 and the Caps have a great penalty kill unit so I expect the Caps to advance past the Rangers and win another game seven.