J.T. Miller appears the more likely center to move in a trade out of Vancouver, according to TSN’s Elliotte Friedman.
Miller has been exposed in a very public dispute with teammate Elias Pettersson. In the wake of the spat, both players are producing well below expectations.
Miller, who is in the second year of a seven-year contract worth an average annual value of $8M per year, has scored only eight goals in 35 games. He’s missed 10 games with an injury and is on pace for his lowest goal total since he scored 13 in 75 games in his final season with Tampa Bay in 2018-19.
Petterson, also struggling, is on pace for his second-lowest point total of his career. The former 100-point player is in the first year of an eight-year megadeal worth $11.6M per year. He has indicated he wants to remain in Vancouver, but trade rumors have swirled around Pettersson ahead of his full No Movement Clause activating in July.
The Canucks won the Pacific Division last season and lost in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinal to eventual conference champion Edmonton despite being without starting goaltender Thatcher Demko.
Now 45 games into the season, Vancouver sits a point back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and fifth in the Pacific Division.
Miller has been connected to both the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. Miller is a former Rangers first round pick who spent parts of his first six seasons as a Ranger.
It’s believed that the Canucks are interested in two Rangers — defenseman Braden Schneider and winger Alexis Lafreniere.
Lafreniere has struggled to score of late, but is still creating excellent chances in the last month.
Schneider, meanwhile, has played much better since returning to the third pair to play with recently acquired defenseman Urho Vaakanainen. The Schneider-Vaakanainen pair are 21st among 149 defense pairs that have played at least 140 minutes together in expected goals against per hour, which measures the historical odds of a shot or chance resulting in a goal.
It’s believed that one or both could be a non-starter in a deal involving Miller.
Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald poured some cold water on a possible Miller deal, though he did leave the door open.
