When free agency opens up tomorrow, one name that may fly under the radar is P.A. Parenteau. He quietly had a very good season on the worst team in the league. He finished 2015-16 with 20 goals and 21 assists, his best point total since he had 43 in forty-eight games for Colorado in 2012-13. On the right deal, he’d be a nice addition to a Devils team looking to add some scoring in free agency.

Parenteau was coming off the worst season of his career in 2014-15. He finished with 22 points in fifty-six games for Montreal and had his contract bought out at season’s end. Last summer, he signed a 1-year deal worth $1.5 million with the Toronto Maple Leafs looking for the chance to bounce back. As it turns out, Toronto made a savvy signing and Parenteau was one of the most productive players on the team. Unfortunately, they were not able to trade him at the deadline due to an injury he suffered, but Parenteau made the most of his time in Toronto and should earn a pay raise this Friday.

Parenteau had quite the turnaround in 2015-16. He scored at a rate of 1.72 points per 60, which was the same rate as Claude Giroux’s and better than players such as Nathan MacKinnon and Adam Henrique. That’s not to say Parenteau is a better player than either of those guys, but it offers some perspective on the season he just had. He was also a 53.7% possession player on one of the league’s worst teams, granted Toronto was a middle-of-the-pack possession team despite their major flaws.

Despite a couple of poor years on the stat sheet, Parenteau’s play has not been as bad as perceived. Over a three year period (2013-16), his goals for per 60 at even-strength is 2.52. That’s identical to Jakub Voracek and better than Loui Eriksson, who will be a free agent on Friday as well, and better than Andrew Shaw, who just signed a 6-year deal worth $23.4 million with the Montreal Canadiens. Parenteau has also been a 51.6% possession player over that time. It’s not like he’s been playing poorly. He just hasn’t had the results on the score sheet.

A large part for Parenteau’s lack of success in Montreal came to a career low shooting percentage. In his lone season there, he shot just 8.2%, which was the lowest percentage in a season where he played more than 20+ games. In 2015-16 with Toronto, he shot 11.8%, which is right on mark with his career average of 11.9%. He was also quite effective at even-strength. Of his 41 points, 30 of them came at 5v5 and he scored 13 of his 20 goals at even-strength, which would be a big boost for a Devils team that was a league worst at even-strength scoring. Even worse than Toronto.

My Take

With the acquisition of Taylor Hall, the Devils may not want to go on a big spending spree since his cap hit is $6 mil a season. They still need to re-sign Palmieri and have to address the hole created along the blue line after sending Larsson to Edmonton. If they choose to limit their spending, Parenteau would be a good short-term, cost effective option for New Jersey. He can score and he’s a right winger, which is a need for the Devils. He’s capable of playing effective top-six minutes and contributes at a solid clip at even-strength. He is 33-years old, but he’s not going to get some ridiculous 5-6 year deal. If the Devils can get him here on a short-term deal, that’d be the most ideal situation. Otherwise, they’d be best off staying away.