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Zach Parise would like to sign a contract extension sooner rather than later

New Jersey Devils Forward Zach Parise Reads to Students

during Zach Parise Reads to Students at the State Library on May 25, 2010 in Trenton, New Jersey.

Andy Marlin

Throwing out entry-level contracts with league-mandated maximums, I’ve long felt that Zach Parise’s deal might be the biggest bargain in all of the NHL. Parise’s put up near-elite numbers for a tidy cap hit of $3.125 million per year, one of those fortuitous steals that forces me to admit that Lou Lamoriello still might “have it” even as I mock Brian Rolston’s salary.

Considering the crazy savings the Devils experienced the last few years, I won’t blame Parise one bit if he wants to squeeze every Benjamin* he can out of his next contract. Richard Chere wrote a story about Parise’s hopes of getting a new contract settled sometime before he becomes a restricted free agent again on July 1, 2011.

* - Franklin, that is, for the less hip hop adept out there.

“I’m the type of person who likes to know what’s going on,” Parise told me today before he took part in an informal workout with veterans at the Prudential Center. “I like to have that comfort and stability.”

“But I’m not concerned. I understand the way things have traditionally been done around here. To talk would be kind of out of the norm. Playing out the last year on my contract is not going to affect me in a negative way, I know that. I’ve kind of been through it before. You don’t want to say you need something like that (the final year on a contract) to make you play harder or better, but I think a lot of times it does make you play better.”

There have been no talks as of yet. Not even a friendly word or two on the subject from Lamoriello in passing.

“Nothing. No talks or anything,” Parise said. “I have to find an agent first. I think you need one. Especially now that they’ve put some new rules in place with Kovy’s thing. It’s real complicated now.”

It will be interesting to see how the Ilya Kovalchuk signing looks years from now. Will pundits laud Lamoriello for making a bold move despite the salary cap discomforts that come about? Or could the second guessers have a field day when Garth Snow throws a ridiculous offer sheet at Parise next summer?

Personally, if someone asked me to choose one, I’d go with Parise over Kovalchuk. Lamoriello will pencil in “C) All of the Above” but arriving at that answer won’t be very easy.