I disagree with you. While you can't get a good uninterrupted 7 hours of sleep on this flight (until after departing YVR, but that's like 6am NY time), I find it is significantly better for minimizing the impact of jetlag when traveling to HK -- and that's because the timing (and length) of the flights allows for more sleep than you'd get on the nonstop.

Specifically, I stay up for dinner ex-JFK (easier on the earlier winter departures), then just kick back, relax and fall asleep for a few hours. Yes, I'm a little groggy when we wake up for landing in YVR, and maybe I'll doze in and out some more. But then after we take off, I'm usually reasonably awake (and hungry enough by then) to partake in the next meal service -- which includes the caviar if you're in F!), watch a movie or two, and then kick back again -- with a sleeping pill this time -- to get as close to a full 7-8 hours of sleep as I can, so that I'll be fully refreshed when we arrive into HKG in the morning.

I also think it's a better schedule for maximizing business time, particularly when going from NY to HK. You work a full day on the day of departure, and arrive +2 days first thing in the morning, ready for a full day of work. You only miss one working day.
On the nonstop, you effectively lose both the departure day (maybe you can work a half day if you take the later flight from NY) and the arrival day. So even though 889 is 4 or so hours of extra travel time, it's a better use of time overall.