Martin Brodeur has shed some new light on the Zach Parise – New Jersey Devils contract negotiations which took place during the summer of 2012. The veteran goaltender told NJ.com that the Devils and Parise were “pretty close” to reaching a deal and that Ryan Suter was close to joining Parise in New Jersey.
The netminder revealed that when he and Parise were exploring free agency, they discussed on the phone returning to the Devils and bringing along Suter. Obviously things didn’t work out that way as Brodeur signed a new deal with the Devils and Parise headed to Minnesota along with Suter.
Brodeur commented on Parise’s decision:
It didn’t work out, and it’s unfortunate because our team suffered because of it.
Zach was pretty close to coming back here. It’s not something that he wanted at no cost getting out of New Jersey, like other guys when they hit free agency you knew it was all over for them. He and Suter were pretty close, and anywhere they were going to go, it was a package deal probably.
Interesting stuff. The Devils obviously tried very hard (yet unsuccessfully) to keep Parise, but this is the first time we’ve heard Brodeur talk about their private conversations. It’s actually a lot of fun imagining some sort of three-way call between Brodeur, Parise and Suter. It still isn’t clear just how far off the Devils were from keeping Parise in town, but you really can’t blame him for taking Minnesota’s massive offer with one of his good friends.
