The Vancouver Canucks have been busy over the last 24 hours.
Trade talks surrounding J.T. Miller have advanced and the team even came close to completing a deal earlier today.
The deal was so close that Miller wasn’t going to play in tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. However, after discussions stalled today, he’s now expected to be in the lineup.
“Talks were progressing on a trade, I believe [with] the New York Rangers. I don’t know exactly what happened but that trade is off right now,” explained Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in a lengthy Canucks update.
While a trade is not thought to be imminent, things can change with a single phone call. At this point in time, the Rangers are not the only team connected to the two-way centre, as the Dallas Stars are still involved per CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal. The New Jersey Devils are another team mentioned by multiple insiders over the past few days.
The Rangers held AHL forwards Adam Sykora, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Jaroslav Chmelar out of their contest today. This fuelled trade speculation and two of the surprise scratches were related to the potential trade per Dhaliwal.
This isn’t the first time the Rangers and Canucks have been connected in trade talks this year. The Pacific Division team reportedly turned down a deal centred around Mika Zibanejad for Miller and they’ve been known to have interest in defenceman Braden Schneider.
Miller’s has been in the rumour mill all season. His performance has declined, his ice time is trending downwards, and he’s involved in a reported feud with co-star Elias Pettersson which has been a major off-ice distraction for the team this season.
While the team is clearly looking for a trade, they must consider the 6-foot-1 centre has a full no-movement clause so he controls his destiny. He has not asked for a trade per Dhaliwal and can veto any team he doesn’t want to go to.
The Canucks are the focus of the league right now as they’re clearly looking to make a major move. Management has reportedly warned other teams about tampering and sent out a note league-wide reminding clubs not to contact their players per Friedman.
However, the Canucks have allowed some teams to communicate directly with Miller.
While at one point there was some uncertainty on if the Canucks were more likely to deal Miller or Pettersson, who doesn’t have a no-movement clause, it’s now looking more obvious it’ll likely be Miller. The Swedish star also reportedly reinforced his commitment to the team in a conversation with management earlier this week.
“Pettersson, who does not have no-trade protection yet, has told the Canucks he would like to stay.”