The Minnesota Wild’s signing of Zach Parise on July 4th was easily the biggest free agent move of the summer. Parise had just come off of captaining his New Jersey Devils to an unlikely Eastern Conference Championship before losing in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final to the Los Angeles Kings. Fans in New Jersey had wanted him to stay, as he had seemingly helped bring the franchise, which has been in a dire financial situation, back to its glory days (no Bruce Springsteen pun intended) of winning Cups from the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. However, it wasn’t meant to be, as Parise packed his bags for his home state of Minnesota where he will stay through 2025.

Whenever this season starts, Parise will be one of the most interesting players to keep an eye on. Minnesota has had offensive problems for as long as anyone can remember, but signing a star like Parise and putting him alongside names like Dany Heatley, Mikko Koivu, Devin Setoguchi, and top prospect Kyle Brodziak, this team could see some major improvements.

Parise worked well with Devils like Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac, both of whom he will undoubtedly miss. Will his chemistry with Minnesota be as good as it was with the Devils? Time will tell, but the players surrounding him certainly have the potential to keep his stats up.

Parise, as always, is a good addition to any fantasy team. In the draft that I took part in last week, my friend took him fifth overall (ahead of Giroux and Crosby). Obviously, picking him that early isn’t the greatest idea, but if he’s available in the second round, he’s definitely worth a look.