The trade rumours surrounding J.T. Miller simply won’t go away.
There are multiple reasons why it is unlikely that the Vancouver Canucks trade Miller at this year’s NHL trade deadline.
The first is that the Canucks literally just reported that he is injured, out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Assuming they’re telling the truth — and there’s no reason to believe they’re lying — then why would an NHL team pushing for the playoffs and Stanley Cup contention trade for a player that is out for an indefinite period of time?
Another complication is that the Canucks cannot retain salary in a Miller deal without retaining salary for the entirety of his next contract. That means if they retained 25% of his current $5.25 million cap hit this season, for example, they would also have to retain 25% of his $8 million cap hit on his next contract for the next seven years.
Then there’s the simple question of whether general manager Patrik Allvin even wants to trade Miller after just signing him to a long-term contract extension in the offseason. If he believed that Miller was a major part of the Canucks’ future then, has his opinion changed that much in the months since?
Perhaps five months of sub-.500 hockey will change anyone’s mind. According to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Canucks did discuss a potential J.T. Miller trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“The Penguins and the Vancouver Canucks recently engaged in trade discussions centered on J.T. Miller, the standout Canucks forward who tallied 99 points last season, two league sources told the Post-Gazette,” reads the report from the Post-Gazette’s Matt Vensel. “Per one of the sources, trade talks between the Penguins and Canucks reached an impasse. But they could be revisited prior to Friday’s trade deadline.”
That’s a more significant report than we’ve seen in the past. Previous reports could be dismissed as other teams simply calling the Canucks to kick tires on Miller but this sounds like more in-depth talks took place.
The Penguins would need to move out salary to accommodate Miller, especially if the Canucks can’t retain salary. That would likely mean Jeff Carter coming back in the trade to clear his $3.125 million cap hit, which runs through next season, as well as some other financial maneuvering on the part of the Penguins.
The Penguins did just put Brock McGinn and his $2.75 million contract on waivers and the odds are good that someone claims him and clears some cap space for the Penguins, allowing them to make a move to acquire someone. That might not be Miller, however, as reports have also linked them to Jakob Chychrun.
For what it’s worth, the buzz I’m hearing around the Canucks is that they’re unlikely to move Miller but the trade deadline makes teams do funny things sometimes.
Another report, this one from Shayna Goldman of The Athletic, suggests the Canucks are working on a major move.
Goldman most recently broke the details of the Timo Meier trade and has been diligent with her sources leading into the trade deadline.
A “sizeable deal” could mean any number of things. It could mean a Miller deal, certainly, but the Canucks also have been working on trading Brock Boeser and are in the market to be a third party broker in a major trade that sees them retain salary on a big name in exchange for draft picks and/or prospects.
It's entirely possible that the Canucks move Boeser, rather than Miller, to the Penguins.
The Canucks are also looking to move Luke Schenn for a draft pick and could have other deals in the works similar to Monday’s Riley Stillman trade.
With the trade deadline on Friday, the Canucks are likely to be very busy this week.
