Vancouver Canucks

J.T. Miller Extension Could Come In At Huge Number, Says NHL Insider

If the Vancouver Canucks want to extend J.T. Miller to a new contract, they’re going to need to pony up a lot of money to do so.

by
NHL Trade Talk
March 29, 2022

29-year-old J.T. Miller is having a fantastic season for the Vancouver Canucks. He was the topic of a number of trade rumors heading into this year’s NHL Trade Deadline, but ultimately wasn’t moved because the Canucks are reportedly electing to hang onto the forward and see if he’ll be up for signing an extension with the team. If not, Vancouver can always move him down the road since he has one more season on his current deal.

Either way, whichever team ultimately signs him to an extension, it’s going to cost that team a lot of money. With 80 points in 66 games, he’s going to get a number of good offers. The question is, will it be worth what the reported ask is?

As per CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal, he cited a report by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that Canucks center J.T. Miller is going to be asking for big, big money. The wording was, he “is going to be in the Mika Zibanejad area,” which is an annual average value of $8.5 million. That’s a $3.25 million raise over the AAV of $5.25 million Miller makes now. More intriguing about the potential extension is that he’ll be signing it when he’s 30 years old.

$8.5 million per season is a lot to invest in anyone. It’s really a lot if that player is looking for an eight-year deal that will take him into a number of seasons where his production is sure to decline. Tomas Hertl recently signed an eight-year extension with the San Jose Sharks at $8.137 million and at the age of 28. That was a deal many criticized, simply because of the length and Hertl is two years younger than Miller will be.

What Will the Canucks Do?

Ideally, the Canucks don’t want to go longer than a four-year deal. The expectation is that Miller would settle for less than eight years but four is probably too short. Can the Canucks really afford to pay that kind of money? Or, will the club need to revisit the idea of a trade?

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