The conversation was never about what Miller wanted, which became even more apparent Friday when the Canucks announced a sudden and unexpected end to the contract drama: a seven-year, $56 million extension for a player who will be 30 when The Next Deal it starts 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 away players that have been the story of his administration. But it unloaded with both barrels by re-signing Miller, who led the Canucks with 99 points last season and is 12th in scoring in the league since Vancouver surrendered a first-round draft pick to acquire the powerful American from the Tampa Bay Lightning three years ago. “I always felt like we could keep him as long as he wanted to stay here,” Rutherford told Sportsnet by phone 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’d like to move on a contract or two so we don’t have that (salary cap) pressure on us. . . next off season. “But with the importance of JT, we just said, OK, we’re going to be like a lot of other teams and take that risk and deal with it when the time comes so we can do that before camp.” There is a chance that Miller will outlive his contract in 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 one year remaining on his current $5.25 million deal, the center is likely to be overpaid when his next contract expires. Miller’s agent, Brian Bartlett, said his client “at least left 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 big money to keep their best player — and one of their most emotional and powerful leaders — because any trade was likely to set the team back in the short term and management believes in Miller. “He’s a player you have to take a chance on,” Rutherford explained. “You don’t know when players get to that age (mid-30s). Some players are still playing well and some are starting to decline a bit more. But for what JT has done for the Canucks, for what he can do in the future, we just felt it was worth it. He is a good player, he wants to be here. And I think he’ll find a way to contribute even in the final stages of this contract.” Miller and general manager Patrik Allvin, co-architect of the deal, will speak to the media on Tuesday. “JT is absolutely ecstatic,” Bartlett told Sportsnet. “If nothing else, JT is a competitor and wants to win. And he feels that 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. “That’s what he wanted. He loves children, he loves the city. Fifty six million for a 30 year old is great. But when you step back and look at the market, at least leave some money on the table. Vancouver is where he wanted to be.” But until the Canucks made a big move this week, it felt like a big hit — Miller’s age and undeniable market value countered the team’s ongoing cap issues and the developmental curve of Vancouver’s younger core players. One of those players, 27-year-old captain Bo Horvat, also has a year left on his contract and is in talks with management about 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 Scottlynn and Scarlett. The family is based in Pittsburgh. But Vancouver is also home now. “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 the whole time I’ve been asked these questions, that’s my main focus — winning with this team. And it’s very, very exciting to see how far we’ve come.” “You can feel the hunger in the fan base,” Bartlett reiterated Friday. “You can feel the desire in the city to have a winner. He’s there every day with these guys at practice, every day with them, win or lose. He knows 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 everyone pushes in the right direction, as everyone’s game matures together, they can really do something with it.” The seven-year deal comes with a no-movement clause, which is mitigated 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 Henrik and Daniel Sedin won NHL titles in 2010 and 2011. Miller is a point-per- game since arriving in Vancouver and believes what he has done offensively with the Canucks is sustainable. “I really think when I come in and have the right mindset of what makes me a good player … I usually play better and the points come and we win more,” he said in April. “It’s so simple, but it took me a long time to figure it out.” The Canucks would be a clown unicycle without a circus if they went into this season with Miller’s status unresolved. “The preference is not to hang anything over the team,” Rutherford agreed. “But you can’t just make a deal for the sake of making 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 there was a deal we could live with. But I think that word, ‘relief,’ is a fair word.”
