Brock
Registered User
The Florida Panthers held a press conference this morning to introduce their newest acquisition, forward Zach Parise.
Late Tuesday evening Parise was acquired from the Dallas Stars in exchange for Veteran winger Alexei Ponikarovsky, former first overall pick James Van Riemsdyk, and top prospect T.J. Brodie.
"We are absolutely ecstatic to add a player of Zach Parise's caliber to our club," said General Manager Brock Otten at the morning's press conference. "I think many people would agree that we've never really had an elite goal scorer on the wing...at least in the time I've been here. Zach gives us that."
"I'm kind of torn...and quite frankly surprised about the whole thing," said Parise. "I loved playing in Dallas and we had some great success as a team. So I'm sad to leave. However, I'm going to the reigning Eastern Conference champions and I think I'll fit really well into their team dynamic."
Parise has been a 28, 29, and 35 goal scorer in the HFNHL the past three seasons and is on pace for another 30 goal season this year. The biggest question is where does he fit into the team's line up?
"I haven't yet decided where we'll use him. We'll play around with some things in practice and see who he has the best chemistry with," said head coach Todd McLellan.
While McLellan remains hush, many in Florida believe the Panthers will try to put together an all star first line with Mike Richards flanked by Parise and Patrick Sharp. That would leave the newly acquired Andy McDonald centering young scorers James Neal and Matt Moulson.
One thing is for certain, the Panthers may be struggling on the ice right now, but no one in Florida is panicking right now. "A lot of people are going to look at this deal and assume we're getting worried about our poor start. I suppose you could look at it that way if you want, but it's not why we made this trade. We made this trade because it fills in a large organizational weakness of ours. And it's not just a short term fix. We've acquired a legitimate all star scoring winger who can play with the core of this team for quite some time," said Otten.
The Panthers will suit up against the Tampa Bay Lightning today in hopes of snapping the team's current three game losing streak. However Zach Parise isn't likely to make his debut until tomorrow's game against the Hurricanes.
Esteban Santour,
Florida Post
Late Tuesday evening Parise was acquired from the Dallas Stars in exchange for Veteran winger Alexei Ponikarovsky, former first overall pick James Van Riemsdyk, and top prospect T.J. Brodie.
"We are absolutely ecstatic to add a player of Zach Parise's caliber to our club," said General Manager Brock Otten at the morning's press conference. "I think many people would agree that we've never really had an elite goal scorer on the wing...at least in the time I've been here. Zach gives us that."
"I'm kind of torn...and quite frankly surprised about the whole thing," said Parise. "I loved playing in Dallas and we had some great success as a team. So I'm sad to leave. However, I'm going to the reigning Eastern Conference champions and I think I'll fit really well into their team dynamic."
Parise has been a 28, 29, and 35 goal scorer in the HFNHL the past three seasons and is on pace for another 30 goal season this year. The biggest question is where does he fit into the team's line up?
"I haven't yet decided where we'll use him. We'll play around with some things in practice and see who he has the best chemistry with," said head coach Todd McLellan.
While McLellan remains hush, many in Florida believe the Panthers will try to put together an all star first line with Mike Richards flanked by Parise and Patrick Sharp. That would leave the newly acquired Andy McDonald centering young scorers James Neal and Matt Moulson.
One thing is for certain, the Panthers may be struggling on the ice right now, but no one in Florida is panicking right now. "A lot of people are going to look at this deal and assume we're getting worried about our poor start. I suppose you could look at it that way if you want, but it's not why we made this trade. We made this trade because it fills in a large organizational weakness of ours. And it's not just a short term fix. We've acquired a legitimate all star scoring winger who can play with the core of this team for quite some time," said Otten.
The Panthers will suit up against the Tampa Bay Lightning today in hopes of snapping the team's current three game losing streak. However Zach Parise isn't likely to make his debut until tomorrow's game against the Hurricanes.
Esteban Santour,
Florida Post
