I think its even simpler than that. The owners have not put their best offer forward because they are waiting for the players (rightly or wrongly) to come admit that playing in the NHL under a cap is better than playing in Europe, better than playing Senior Men's hockey, better than playing in the AHL, better than playing for a dubious WHA, better than sitting at home waiting.
They have already succedded in getting the players to admit the teams are losing money. When was the last time you heard anyone on the players side say anything bad about the Levitt report? Remember in the early going of this mess how the only thing the NHLPA had to say was how the report was flawed, the teams weren't actually losing money, the report was full of BS, etc. Then they offered a 24% pay cut, phase 1 complete.
Now the owners wait for phase 2, for the players to accept some form of linkage to revenues. Until they do, they can go to Europe and make 10% of their NHL salaries, they can go flip burgers if they want, the owners will string this out until the players agree to some form of linkage. Then its phase 3, throw them a bone on revenue sharing, floor cap,UFA whatever, and away they go, the 2005/06 season is then ready to begin.