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Report: Devils won’t be trading Zach Parise

Pittsburgh Penguins v New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 31: Ilya Kovalchuk #17 and Zach Parise #9 of the New Jersey Devils celebrate a short-handed goal by Parise with less than a minute left in the game to help seal a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in an NHL hockey game at Prudential Center on December 31, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

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The Devils’ financial problems on top of Zach Parise being eligible to become a free agent after the season has a lot of fans and team executives wondering if the Devils will trade the star forward.

According to Mark Everson of the New York Post, the Devils won’t be entertaining any trade possibilities for their team captain.

Sources say inquiring general managers are getting the word Devils GM Lou Lamoriello is not dealing unrestricted free agent-to-be Zach Parise before the NHL’s Feb. 27 trade deadline.

Instead, it is thought if the Devils do not want to re-sign Parise in June, they’ll trade his rights to a team that wants an advance shot at negotiations before he becomes free July 1.

If Everson’s sources are right (and you never know with these things) then Devils GM Lou Lamoriello will be living on the edge in figuring out what to do with their young superstar.

Trading Parise’s rights before July 1 should he not sign an extension or wind up dealt before then means the Devils may not get as much in return for him. If the Devils put Parise up for trade before the trade deadline, Lamoriello would likely have his choice of huge offers for the stud winger.

It takes two to tango and some teams may not want to risk prospects or players for a guy that may not sign with them when free agency arrives. The Devils then run the risk of losing Parise for nothing, something that won’t help out a franchise that’s surrounded by bad financial news.