Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are, against all odds, the newest members of the Minnesota Wild. They came as a package deal and they came with identical $98 million contracts.
Not only did they make this decision together; they didn't want one to be valued above the other, via ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun:
… when it appeared the money was tilted more toward Parise's way in negotiations, the former Devils captain made a point of ensuring that both he and Suter would have to make the exact same money if they came as a package deal: hence two identical, $98 million contracts forged from the now-less-deep pockets of Wild owner Craig Leipold.
With this gesture, it's clear that while they're absolutely being paid handsomely to go to Minnesota, these signings aren't purely about the money. These are friends wanting to team up as equals.
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