The Vancouver Canucks finally traded JT Miller
It finally happened.
For the second Friday in a row, the NHL had a seismic trade to start a weekend, with the Vancouver Canucks pulling the trigger on the long-rumored move to get JT Miller out of their organization, sending him back to the Rangers as part of a five-player trade that also included a top-13 protected first-round pick going to Vancouver.
They then flipped that pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Vincent Desharnais, Danton Heinen, and Melvin Fernström in exchange for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor.
The framework for the newsier Miller swap was apparently laid out weeks ago, when the GM Chris Drury tried to bring Miller back to the Rangers for the first time since February 2018, but finally consummated a few days after Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford spoke perhaps a little too frankly about the realities surrounding the potential trade market for Miller and/or Elias Pettersson.
The overall trade with New York ended up being Miller, plus AHL D Erik Brannstrom and defensive prospect Jackson Dorrington, in exchange for Filip Chytil, AHL defender Victor Mancini, and that protected first-round pick that Vancouver controlled for a couple hours. Crucially, no one retained any money in this trade, so the Canucks are getting out from under not only several years of commitment to their departing forward — he's signed through 2030 at an $8-million AAV — but also saving about $3.6 million against the cap, which could be important to them in the weeks to come.
In the second deal of the night, the Canucks took on about $700,000 in cap commitments (for this season only; they save more than $4 million for next year) to significantly upgrade their defense and maybe take a small step back up front. Which they could perhaps afford because they also acquired Chytil, who seems to have second-line potential and, crucially, runs the pivot. He never got the kind of deployment that might lead you to think he can be a consistent 20-goal guy, but the potential is kinda-sorta there even now, if you squint. At least in Vancouver you can justify giving him power-play minutes in a way the Rangers seemingly didn't want to. Beyond that, Mancini was most recently ranked the 16th-best prospect in the Rangers' 19th-ranked system, and fourth-best among blue liners, by the Elite Prospects staff. He's had a solid start to the year, including 15 games of NHL time in which he looked, well, not so good in a limited role. He's also only 22, so there's plenty of room and opportunity to grow. He's not Miller-quality and probably never will be, but the Canucks have some time to find out if there's a legit top-six contributor there.
But speaking of power-play time, that's suddenly a real question that has to be asked about Miller in New York. Would they break up that top power-play unit on Broadway to incorporate Miller? Their man advantage is running at 29 percent and change since the start of January; why break it up? And if you're not using Miller there — not to say you couldn't — his production is likely to drop, which makes him less valuable. But hey, at least the Rangers finally got older.
What's interesting in all this is that, of course, the Rangers still aren't in a playoff spot. I don't think moving Chytil or the first hurts them too much in the long run and of course Miller is a more productive player. But the Rangers were five points out of a playoff spot at the moment the trade was made and unless they really unlock something with a 31-year-old who alienated his teammates, it's tough to see Miller providing something like plus-15 goals of value over the Rangers' last 32 games. He's really good if you use him right, but there are probably like five skaters on earth who are that good. The reality for the Rangers is the same as it was before this trade was made: They really need Igor Shesterkin to keep playing .925-plus hockey.
As far as what the Penguins get out of all this: That Rangers pick and a little more cap flexibility this summer.
Perhaps the biggest benefit for anyone in this trade, though, is that Vancouver can potentially just close the book on this messy Miller/Elias Pettersson saga. The fact that they were hours or even minutes away from shipping out the latter last week (until Colorado swooped in) maybe indicates that they're just ready to cut bait with the whole affair, but the pressure to Do Something About It is decidedly off now that Miller was the first guy to get shipped out instead of Elias Pettersson.
Both New York and Vancouver also still have a lot of cap space, so it's possible that neither is done wheeling and dealing.
It's hard to say the Rangers necessarily won the trade, just based on the long-term commitment they took on to improve, but they did add the best player in the deal, so that's a kind of winning. The Penguins got a first-round pick (from a division rival, no less) and future wiggle room to figure out what the hell they want to do with their organization.
And, even if their on-paper quality has taken a step back, the Canucks' increased cap flexibility and reduced likelihood of future media circuses has to be considered a kind of win as well.