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Canucks signal that J.T. Miller is worth the risk by signing long-term extension – Sportsnet.ca

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VANCOUVER — The months-long conjecture about J.T. Miller’s future with the Vancouver Canucks was always about what the hockey team would do with its best forward.

The discussion was never about what Miller wanted, which became even more obvious Friday when the Canucks announced a sudden and unexpected end to the contract drama: a seven-year, $56-million-US extension for a player who will be 30 years old when his next deal begins in 2023.

Nine months after inheriting the National Hockey League team — and all its strengths and weaknesses — Canucks president Jim Rutherford still hasn’t shown the gunslinger mentality to trade players that was his management history.

But he unloaded with both barrels in re-signing Miller, who led the Canucks with 99 points last season and is 12th in league scoring since Vancouver surrendered a first-round draft pick to acquire the powerful American from the Tampa Bay Lightning three years ago.

“I always felt that we were going to be able to keep him as long as he wanted to stay here,” Rutherford told Sportsnet in a phone call Friday night. “And it was pretty obvious that he wanted to be here, he wanted this to be his home, and that was a key factor. We would have liked to move a contract or two out to not have that (salary-cap) pressure on us. . . next off-season.

“But with the importance of J.T., we just said: Okay, we’re just going to be like a lot of other teams and take that risk and deal with it when the time comes so we can get this done before camp.”

There is a chance Miller will outperform his contract over the next four or five years. He was ninth in scoring last season but his $8-million cap hit is tied for 50th in the NHL. 

Still, 29 years old and with a year remaining on his current bargain deal at $5.25 million, the centre is likely to be overpaid when his next contract ends.

Miller’s agent, Brian Bartlett, said his client “left at least some money on the table.” The contract is seven years, not eight, and $8 million a season, not $9 million. But the Canucks are still paying a mountain of money to keep their best forward — and one of their most emotional and influential leaders — because any trade was likely to set the team back in the short term and management believes in Miller.

“This is a player that you have to take some risk with,” Rutherford explained. “You don’t know when players get to that age (in their mid-30s). Some players still play fine and some start to decline a little bit more. But for what J.T. has done for the Canucks, what he’s capable of doing going forward, we just felt it was worth that. He’s a good player, he wants to be here. And I feel he’ll figure out a way to contribute even in the latter stages of that contract.”

Miller and general manager Patrik Allvin, co-architect of the contract, will speak to the media on Tuesday.

“J.T. is absolutely ecstatic,” Bartlett told Sportsnet. “If nothing else, J.T. is a competitor and he wants to win. And he feels like this gives him a great chance to win a Stanley Cup before his career is over. He loves Vancouver and is excited to be there for the rest of his career.

“This is what he wanted. He loves the guys, loves the city. Fifty-six million for a 30-year-old is great. But when you step back and look at the market, he left at least a little money on the table. Vancouver is where he wanted to be.”

But until the Canucks moved significantly this week, it felt like a long shot — Miller’s age and undeniable market value pushing up against the team’s ongoing cap issues and the evolutionary curve of Vancouver’s younger core players.

One of those players, 27-year-old captain Bo Horvat, also has one year remaining on his contract and is in discussions with management on a long-term extension. Winger Brock Boeser, 25, signed a three-year, $20-million contract in July.

Miller has more than money on his mind this weekend after his son, Owen, was born on Thursday. Miller and his wife, Natalie, also have young daughters Scotlyn and Scarlett. The family is based in Pittsburgh.

But Vancouver is home now, too.

“My best friends are here, my teammates are here,” Miller told us in April during the final week of the regular season. “We want to win here, and I want to win here. I’ve said that the whole time when I got asked these questions, that’s my main focus — winning with this group. And it’s very, very exciting to see how far we’ve come.”

“You can sense the hunger in the fan base,” Bartlett reiterated on Friday. “You can sense the desire in the city to have a winner. He’s there every day with these guys in practice, every day with them, win or lose. He knows that there’s a lot of talent in the locker room and a lot of good guys in that room. There’s a lot of belief that if everybody pushes in the right direction, as everybody’s game kind of matures together, they can really do something with it.”

The seven-year-deal comes with a no-movement clause, softened by a modified no-trade clause over the final three seasons.

Miller’s 32 goals and 99 points last season were career-highs and made him the highest-scoring Canuck since Hall-of-Famers Henrik and Daniel Sedin won NHL scoring titles in 2010 and 2011. Miller has been a point-per-game player since arriving in Vancouver and believes what he has done offensively with the Canucks is sustainable.

“I really do believe that when I come and have the right mindset about what makes me a good player… I typically play better and points come and we win more,” he said in April. “It’s so simple, but it took me a long time to figure that out.”

The Canucks would have been a unicycle-riding-clown short of a circus had they gone into this season with Miller’s status unresolved.

“The preference is not to have anything hanging over the team,” Rutherford agreed. “But you can’t just make a deal to make a deal for that reason. You have to make it if you think it’s a fair deal for both sides, and we got to a point where both sides felt that there’s a deal we could live with. But I think that word, ‘relief,’ is a fair word.”

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Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

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November 8, 2024

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LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

___

AP cricket:

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Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

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November 8, 2024

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

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November 8, 2024

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Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

—

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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