DALLAS — Forward J.T. Miller is nursing a lower-body injury and is considered week-to-week, the Vancouver Canucks announced on Monday.
With the trading deadline looming Friday, Miller’s name has been mentioned as a target for several teams. Although a deal could still materialize for the downsizing Canucks, Miller likely won’t play in a game before the deadline passes.
Miller, 29, who also has played for the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers, signed a seven-year, $56 million contract extension last summer. The deal officially kicks in next season.
This season, Vancouver struggled out of the gate, eventually resulting in a coaching change. But Miller has produced throughout. He has 20 goals and 54 points in 59 games and has been a stabilizing force on a club that dealt away its captain, Bo Horvat, last month to the New York Islanders.
Not long after Rick Tocchet took over for the fired Bruce Boudreau last month, Tocchet took a close look at Miller’s statistics and noticed that maybe less might be more with regard to playing time.
“I just don’t know if you can play those types of guys that many minutes — 24, 23 minutes — I don’t think that’s what we’re looking to do here,” Tocchet said at the time. “So, J.T. is put in positions — sometimes maybe he’s pacing himself.”
On Saturday, in a 3-1 loss to the visiting Boston Bruins, Miller had two shots on net in 25 shifts across 18:37 time on the ice.
Without Miller at his side, Andrei Kuzmenko scored 48 seconds into overtime to give the Canucks a 5-4 victory at the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Thatcher Demko, playing for the first time since Dec. 1, stopped 34 shots in the win.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.