Jim Rutherford is still the gambler

The J.T. Miller contract extension is his next "what the hell, sign him!" move....

Jim Rutherford might not be the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks (that title would belong to Patrik Allvin, one of his former right hand people in Pittsburgh) but his finger prints are still all over the team and he is still the public face of the team’s front office.

For the most part, Rutherford’s Vancouver tenure has been a little subdued in terms of roster moves. We have not seen the blockbuster trades, unpredictability, and all out chaos that we grew to know (and love …. and hate) in Pittsburgh.

But we did get a whiff of it on Friday night when the Canucks announced a seven-year, $56 million contract extension for forward J.T. Miller.

This is a pretty big move because Miller, who is coming off of a career year that saw him put 99 points on the board, was going to be eligible for unrestricted free agency after this season and did not seem to have much momentum building in contract talks. That made him one of the biggest trade candidates in the league, and it honestly seemed to be a matter of when, and not if, he would get dealt somewhere else.

And then the Canucks said the hell with that and just paid him a boat load of money.

It has all of the classic markings of a Jim Rutherford gamble.