Two of UND's all-time greats hit free agency
Jun. 30—GRAND FORKS — Two of UND's all-time great hockey players will be hitting free agency beginning Saturday.
Jonathan Toews and Zach Parise will both be unrestricted free agents.
Toews has played with the Chicago Blackhawks since leaving UND after the 2006-07 season. He has served as their captain since 2008-09, leading them to Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
But Toews' eight-year, $84-million deal expired at the end of this season and the Blackhawks announced they will not seek to bring him back as they entire a rebuilding stage.
Toews bid farewell to Chicago at the end of last season.
There are still questions of whether Toews will play at all. He's hinted at potential retirement due to health issues stemming from long COVID.
Parise has played the last two seasons with the New York Islanders on one-year contracts.
The 38-year-old had an impressive 2022-23 season, scoring 21 goals for the Islanders.
Parise previously played for the New Jersey Devils and Minnesota Wild.
Parise has a chance to become UND's all-time leader in NHL regular-season games played next season. He currently at 1,224 games — 56 behind leader James Patrick and 32 behind Craig Ludwig, who is second on UND's list. Toews is fourth with 1,067.
Toews is followed by recently retired Travis Zajac (1,037), retired Dave Christian (1,009) and T.J. Oshie (958), who can hit the 1,000-game mark next season.
One other prominent free agent is defenseman Troy Stecher, who was traded from the Arizona Coyotes to the Calgary Flames last season.
Stecher has played 440 NHL games since leading UND to the 2016 NCAA national championship. Stecher has had with stints in Vancouver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Arizona and Calgary. The 29-year-old right-handed blue liner was undrafted, but has only played four minor-league games in his career.
UND's other unrestricted free agents are forward Collin Adams (N.Y. Islanders), forward Drake Caggiula (Pittsburgh), goalie Aaron Dell (San Jose), forward Rhett Gardner (Dallas Stars), forward Tyson Jost (Buffalo), goalie Zane McIntyre (Minnesota), forward Grant Mismash (Tampa Bay), forward Austin Poganski (Seattle) and defenseman Colton Poolman (Calgary), goalie Adam Scheel (Dallas) and forward Jasper Weatherby (Detroit).
Forward Shane Pinto (Ottawa) is a restricted free agent.
Defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker was set to become a restricted free agent, but signed a new two-year deal prior to the opening of the free agency period.
1,280 — James Patrick
1,256 — Craig Ludwig
1,224 — Zach Parise
1,067 — Jonathan Toews
1,037 — Travis Zajac
1,009 — Dave Christian
958 — T.J. Oshie
