The Islanders did not appear to be done wheeling and dealing on Monday after acquiring J.G. Pageau from the Ottawa Senators.
Multiple reports revealed that the Islanders were making progress toward acquiring veteran left-winger Zach Parise, but the deal could not be completed before the NHL’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline on Monday.
“You always think there’s something that could potentially happen,” Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello said. “Until it materializes it wasn’t close.”
Both Parise and Islanders forward Andrew Ladd waived their no-movement clauses to facilitate the deal, per reports. A trade involving those two players had been discussed last summer, but Ladd’s nagging injury history delayed any sort of tangible progress on negotiations.
With Ladd back healthy — he appeared for the Islanders during Friday night’s win over the Detroit Red Wings — the wheels began to turn once again. Ladd has three years remaining on his current deal following this season with an annual cap hit of $5.5 million.
Lamoriello added that Ladd is being recalled from the organization’s AHL affiliate in Bridgeport and will be with the team for “the rest of the season.”
Parise, who is under contract through the 2024-25 season, carries an annual cap hit of $7.5 million.
He is still a serviceable winger at 35 years old despite seeing better days with the Wild and New Jersey Devils. He has 21 goals in 61 games just one season after putting up 28.
His acquisition would have been an important one for the Islanders, who needed an additional offensive boost on their wing, especially on the power play. Eleven of Parise’s 21 goals this season have come on the man advantage.
New York’s sputtering offense received a jolt earlier on Monday when the team acquired Pageau from Ottawa and signed him to a six-year extension.
While Pageau is expected to be slotted in on the third line, Parise could have been featured as high as the first line, flexing captain Anders Lee to the third line to spread the wealth of offensive talent throughout the Islanders’ lineup.
Parise was considered an Islanders draft target 17 years ago, but the team opted to go with center Robert Nilsson. Two picks later, Parise was drafted by the New Jersey Devils and their GM, Lou Lamoriello.
He spent his first seven NHL seasons with Lamoriello in New Jersey, posting 192 goals and 216 assists (410 points) in 502 games played. That included four 30-plus-goal seasons and a 2008-09 campaign in which he posted 45 goals.
He had not hit the 30-goal plateau in five years when he put up 33 goals with Minnesota in 2014-15.
