LOS ANGELES — The clock is not only ticking on the Devils’ season, but on Zach Parise’s career in New Jersey, for when the puck is dropped tonight for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, it will start the countdown at T-minus-60 on the captain’s impending unrestricted free agency.
The clock can be stopped for at least 72 more hours if the Devils can find a way to derail the Kings’ runaway train and bring the series back to the Rock for Game 5 on Saturday by becoming the third team in NHL history and the first since the 1945 Red Wings to win a Game 4 on the road when down 3-0 in the Finals.
But if not, the focus will shift immediately from all of this season’s unanticipated accomplishments on the ice to the bottom-line reality of Parise’s July 1 entry into the open market, where he is likely to become the most sought after upper-echelon free agent in memory.
“I’m not thinking about the end right now,” Parise said yesterday when asked if he’d considered there would be inevitable changes to the team at the conclusion of the series. “Hopefully we have a few more games.”
Whenever the end comes, it will mark the first day of the rest of Parise’s professional life, and unless Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek finds a benefactor by July 1 willing to immediately invest millions into a dramatically front-loaded deal to keep the captain, it’s all but impossible to imagine No. 9 will stay, even if the notion of being a career Devil appeals to him.
There is no other forward on the market comparable to Parise, who has steadfastly refused to engage in discussion about his future. One can expect up to a dozen teams to make serious inquiries on the left wing, who has spent his seven-year NHL career as a Devil.
This all but certainly will be the final summer in which, a) players will be allowed to sign front-loaded contracts with huge signing bonuses that this year will also serve as lockout-protection; and b) players will be permitted to sign contracts without term limits.
Indeed, Parise can expect offers modeled after the nine-year, $60 million contract Brad Richards signed last summer with the Rangers, under which the center is receiving $24 million the first two years, including a $10 million signing bonus last July and an $8 million signing bonus due next month.
Parise, who will turn 28 next month, could attract offers of up to 12 years. He will certainly receive front-loaded, bonus-laden offers from the Rangers and Red Wings, who have millions to spend and the inclination to do so.
The Wild will be in, though Parise might want to think more than twice about going home to join a team in which he would be the best player by leaps and bounds.
The Sharks could be in. The Maple Leafs will be, though current general manager Brian Burke doesn’t believe in front-loaded deals. The Bruins could become a serious contender. There will be others.
Given the financial realities in New Jersey, it’s almost impossible to conjure the scenario in which ownership could cut Parise a $10 million check on July 2. And again, that’s even assuming Parise’s first choice is to remain a Devil.
He is one today and will be one tonight. But once the puck is dropped, the clock will be ticking on the Devils’ season and on the captain’s career in New Jersey.
T-minus-60 and counting.