The Vancouver Canucks have been in the spotlight for what feels like all of the draft and free agency because of their interest in trading star forward J.T. Miller. But recently, it seems that as attitude has changed. According to Rick Dhaliwal, a deal involving Miller will have to be ‘100% perfect’ in order for the Canucks to consider moving him.
Rumour, Canucks organization is ‘in love’ with J.T. Miller, and may not trade him according to Rick Dhaliwal.
John Shannon : Talking to people in the organization in the last 72 hours, the Canucks love JT Miller. If there is a deal to be done it has to be perfect, it has to make 100% sense.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) July 14, 2022
J.T. Miller May Remain Part of Vancouver Canucks Forward Group
The Canucks have all of a sudden backed down on trading American forward J.T. Miller. During the Draft, the Canucks were one of the teams at the centre of attention. The Canucks were rumoured to be shopping the 29-year-old forward. During the draft, it seemed as if almost every team was interested in Miller. That list included the Montreal Canadiens, who apparently had a serious trade offer for him. However, that didn’t happen, as the Canadiens would trade for Kirby Dach instead.
Miller has spent the last three seasons with the Canucks, where he has put up over 70 points in each of the two seasons. He notched 72 points in 69 games in 2020, and 99 points in 80 games this past season. Miller has also spent time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the New York Rangers where he was originally drafted 15th overall in 2011.
What This Means
For the Canucks, this move is an interesting turn of events. Although he has been putting up impressive point totals, he has a $5.25 million cap hit, which could get in the way of signing other Notable free agents, like Captain Bo Horvat. With the Canucks picking up Ilya Mikheyev on a four-year $19 million contract, and the fact that they now have zero cap space, the canucks have to make a tough decision whether to re-sign him or find a way to keep him when he becomes a free agent next offseason.
The Canucks won’t feel pressure to trade J.T. Miller until the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline approaches, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said.
The 29-year-old forward can become an unrestricted free agent after this season.https://t.co/DmIYVdQVcr
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) July 15, 2022
