Zach Parise calls owners' 50-50 proposal 'a publicity stunt'

Zach Parise questioned NHL owners' desire to negotiate. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) A "depressed" Zach Parise, recipient of one of the offseason's biggest

Zach Parise questioned NHL owners' desire to negotiate. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

A "depressed" Zach Parise, recipient of one of the offseason's biggest free-agent deals, told Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, he's fed up with NHL owners.

Parise called the 50-50 revenue-sharing proposal released by the NHL a "publicity stunt" designed to lure fans and media to the league's side of the current labor-lockout standoff. He questioned the owners' dedication to negotiate after quickly passing on three proposals in 10 minutes Thursday.

“Something is not right there,” the Wild’s Zach Parise said. “It’s confusing. All these owners, maybe this was their plan the whole time, to sign all these guys to these big contracts knowing full well they’re not going to pay the value of them. To me, that doesn’t sound like good-faith negotiating, yet they keep preaching it.”

Parise said he was not “singling out” Wild owner Craig Leipold, who signed Parise and Ryan Suter each to 13-year, $98 million contracts July 4 and has already paid them $10 million signing bonuses each. Still, Parise is left wondering if his contract will be honored.

“You have all these owners signing big deals minutes before the CBA expires and then going the next day, ‘We don’t want to pay these contracts,” Parise said. “Maybe that’s how they conduct business. That just doesn’t seem right. What if us players signed a deal and said, ‘You know what, I actually want 15 percent more?’”