VANCOUVER — Patrik Allvin is no pyromaniac. As the J.T. Miller trade-rumour inferno rages in various NHL markets, Allvin is nearer than almost anyone to the blaze. And the Vancouver Canucks general manager is holding a fire hose turned on full.
Allvin said Wednesday that not only is there no urgency to auction off the team’s leading scorer before the March 21 trade deadline, the new GM sees Miller as a player the Canucks, ideally, should try to keep.
The 28-year-old is under contract another season after this one at a bargain $5.25-million salary and isn’t eligible for unrestricted free agency until 2023. No wonder Allvin and Canucks president Jim Rutherford are in no hurry to trade their best forward.
One of the Canucks’ former managers, Brian Burke, pointed out a generation ago that things can change with one phone call. Burkie also referenced a payphone and moving the franchise, but you get the idea.
Maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs or another team send a Brinks truck to the Canucks loaded with draft picks and A-level prospects to get Allvin to move Miller now, but the club isn’t exactly boxing up the forward’s sticks and skates and discounting No. 9 jerseys in the team store.
Physical, fast, skilled and versatile, Miller is the kind of elite player teams build around.
“Absolutely,” Allvin said. “We can control most of our players (contracts), except for Tyler Motte. In that regard, there is no rush at all. Regarding J.T. — I’ve said it before — I’ve been impressed with the way he plays, the way he cares. And I think he’s been probably, since I’ve been here, the most consistent player.
“I think that’s probably something we’re planning as a staff, to sit down together this summer and see which guys are going into the last year of their deals. We want to see where they are, their mindset and what they want to do and if there is a fit here.”
One of the factors driving conjecture about Miller, besides a formidable and versatile skillset that has him on pace for a career-best season after 53 points in Vancouver’s first 50 games, is his age. The American turns 29 in March, will be 30 when his contract expires, and may be too old during his next deal to align with the evolution of a Canucks team built on a foundation of players now in their early- to mid-20s.
But Allvin believes Miller could still fit the team’s future.
“I hope so,” he said. “With his mindset and his drive, I hope he has another level to reach, too. I think he’s probably matured a lot over the last couple of years, and I hope he knows how to take care of his body and you hope he can still find another level.”
What is indisputable amid the debate around Miller and others is that the Canucks, operating in LTIR and likely to miss the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons, are facing a salary-cap crisis. Both Rutherford and Allvin have said it is critically important for the Canucks to create some cap flexibility.
Motte, the speedy, tenacious checker and penalty-killer who is playing the best hockey of his career, is one of only two Canuck regulars due to become a UFA after this season. Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak is the other, and he has a full no-movement clause. Depth players Brad Hunt and Alex Chiasson will also be UFAs.
Allvin echoed Rutherford’s statement last month that the Canucks can’t afford to lose UFAs for nothing if there’s value in trading them, which was a key organizational failing during Jim Benning’s seven years as GM.
“I definitely agree with that, and especially in the position where we are right now,” Allvin said. “We’re not in the playoffs even. Coming from Pittsburgh, it’s different where you have Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust going through the last year of their contracts. But they’re still a top team in the league and maybe you push through there because you have a chance to win.
“We’re in a different situation here. We’re not there right now, so I would not feel comfortable seeing players just walk away and you don’t get anything in return. But it’s easier said than done.”
In his interview with Sportsnet, Allvin said he likes what he has seen from Bruce Boudreau, but it’s too early to talk about what should be done with the head coach who arrived in Vancouver eight weeks before the GM.
Besides making a decision on Motte, Allvin must stickhandle impending restricted free agent Brock Boeser and the $7.5-million qualifying offer the winger is due. The QO is not only a non-starter for the Canucks as a launch point for a future contract, but a major drag on Boeser’s trade value.
As with Miller, however, the Canucks can take time on the Boeser file by seeing how things play out this summer and try to re-sign him long-term at an average salary significantly lower than his qualifying offer.
But eventually, Allvin will have to make difficult and unpopular choices about who stays and who goes.
“Absolutely,” he said. “That’s the tough part in this business. I mean, you want to believe in your players, and you want to believe that they’re going to get better and all that. But at some point, you’ve just got to face the reality.”
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
