According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, it was important for Zach Parise that he and new Minnesota Wild teammate Ryan Suter be compensated equally.
Well, ask and ye shall receive. Via ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, here’s how each of the 13-year, $98 million deals break down.
2012-13: $12 million ($2 million base + $10 million signing bonus)
2013-14: $12 million ($2 million base + $10 million signing bonus)
2014-15: $11 million ($6 million base + $5 million signing bonus)
2015-16: $9 million
2016-17: $9 million
2017-18: $9 million
2018-19: $9 million
2019-20: $9 million
2020-21: $8 million
2021-22: $6 million
2022-23: $2 million
2023-24: $1 million
2024-25: $1 million
Brian Burke: furious.
Obviously the front-loaded structure of the deal is intended to reduce the cap hit. It’s possible, if not likely, Parise and Suter won’t play out the final two or three years of their contracts when they’ll be pushing 40.