Zach Parise is still undecided, has no timetable

[July 03, 2012]  BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- Zach Parise needed more than 24 hours to choose which hockey team to make happy.

"I'm getting closer but haven't made a decision," Parise told reporters Monday in Mississauga, Ontario , according to the Canadian Press. "I haven't set any deadlines."

New Jersey is hoping to keep Parise, who became a free agent Sunday when he didn't re-sign with the Devils. Pittsburgh, Detroit, Minnesota and Nashville are among the teams trying to lure him away from the only team he has played for in his NHL career.

The 27-year-old forward and 27-year-old defenseman Ryan Suter were the top players to hit the market. Suter, who also has played for only one team, the Nashville Predators, seemed to want more than a day to pick a place to play as well.

Parise scored 31 goals last season and had 69 points in his first year as New Jersey Devils captain and contributed 15 postseason points during a run to the Stanley Cup finals. He has 194 goals and 410 career points over seven seasons with the franchise that drafted him. New Jersey selected him 17th overall in 2003 and he made his NHL debut two years later.

Suter had seven goals and 46 points last season with the Predators. He has 38 goals and 238 points in an NHL career that started in 2005, two years after Nashville drafted him No. 7 overall.

Parise, who is from Minnesota, and Suter, a native of Wisconsin, helped the U.S. win silver at the 2010 Olympics.

[Associated Press; By LARRY LAGE]

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