The Wild and Islanders almost pulled off a blockbuster Zach Parise trade

The Minnesota Wild almost pulled off an insanely complicated blockbuster at the trade deadline that would’ve sent Zach Parise to the New York Islanders.

This year’s trade deadline was one of the better ones in recent memory, but the most interesting trade was one that eventually fell through involving Zach Parise.

In what would have been a blockbuster trade, the Minnesota Wild almost traded forward Parise to the New York Islanders in exchange for forward Andrew Ladd. Obviously, there would’ve been much more to the deal, but those two would’ve been the focal points.

Parise and Ladd both agreed to waive their no-trade clauses in order to finalize the deal, but the 3 p.m. ET trade deadline passed and there was no trade. The Wild finished deadline day with no moves made, and a busy offseason ahead of them.

The 35-year-old Parise still has five seasons after this one left on his 13-year contract, with a cap hit of $7.54 million. He is currently the third-best goal/point scorer in Wild history with 188 goals and 373 points. In 61 games this season, Parise has had an alright season with 21 goals and 37 points.

This is a move that was reportedly in the works during the offseason too, back when Paul Fenton was the general manager of the Wild. Regardless of the direction the Wild want to go in, Bill Guerrin had to try to find a way to get either Parise or Ryan Suter off the books in order to build the team he wants. After so many years of mediocrity after signing the two of them to identical contracts, the Wild need to get younger and try to start over with a new core. But it seems that will need to be re-opened again in the off-season.

If Parise retires any time in the next five years, the cap recapture penalty against the Wild will be steep, increasing to $19 million against the salary cap in 2024. If that happens, surely the NHL would offer some kind of way out, since Minnesota would not be able to field a team with $19 million in dead cap space.

The Islanders, on the other hand, were trying to go all in. They already made a big trade for Jean-Gabriel Pageau earlier before the deadline, and almost got a still-effective Parise to bolster their offense heading into the playoffs. With the deal falling through, the Pageau trade was the only move they made on deadline day.

Perhaps once the off-season rolls around in June, both sides will revisit a Parise trade for a third time. The odds that Parise finishes his contract in Minnesota seem to be next to nothing.

Follow FanSided NHL for more news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage about hockey in all forms throughout the entire 2019-20 NHL season and beyond.