Did a little digging on this. In the 14 games since the calendar turned to 2020, Parise has 2 even-strength points, which ranks 10th on the team as far as forwards go. He has those 2 points in almost 178 minutes of even-strength ice time, which ranks 3rd on the team during that stretch. One of those points was a goal against Pittsburgh (3 weeks ago), late in the 2nd, when we were already trailing 4-0. You actually have to go back to December 17th to find his last even-strength goal that was meaningful (a late extra attacker goal against Vegas to cut their lead to 3-2). He has made his hay on the power play, which he could continue to do, regardless of the line he plays on.
AKL just last night was talking about how all the offense comes from whatever line Fiala is on....I pointed out that the line Zach is on puts on a lot of pressure most every night and gets great chances too... then he also pointed out even strength points as a counter arguement.
I then pointed out last night's points all came on the PP, so that means no line is generating offensive chances huh? Of course not! They're still putting on great pressure as a line!
I get it, even strength points are an indicator, but not the only indicator. You can still play great offensively at even strength, yet the ones that happen to go in are on the PP.
Great even strength play often creates power plays too. Zach does a lot of that creating, as does Fiala. Fiala is our best forward, but Zach has been our 2nd best for a while and it's not close.
The chances and pressure he puts on the offensive zone speaks for itself.