January 23rd, 2025
JC Clemas
Yeah, he’s probably gone. The Canucks spent an entire day trying to trade Miller already. It’s gotten so close he’s almost been scratched for trade-related purposes. The front office has been taking calls from more teams than you can count on your fingers, without even worrying about who’s on the other line. Even the Oilers have been rumoured as a team that has interest in Miller, and while I have to hope the Canucks wouldn’t trade him to a rival, I can’t put it past them. They seem pretty committed to the plot of kicking out J.T. Miller. The idea has its pros and cons, and I’ll take you through the main ones here.
Pro: The Team Desperately Needs a Shake Up
The Canucks have been mentally and physically painful to watch this season. The game against the Sabres on Tuesday really feels like a definition of the whole season. Last year, if they were leading in the 3rd period against a bad team, I could have just gone to sleep knowing the result. This year, I probably should just go to sleep after two periods and ignore the result. As it stands right now, the Canucks are not a playoff team. Even if they manage to sneak in because of the weak competition they face for that 2nd wild card spot, they’re just going to get absolutely sauced and tossed against whoever they face in round 1.
Trading Miller definitely has the potential to be a motivator for the team. It would show that the front office is not playing around with this group. It’s also easy to default back to the time when Miller missed 10 games in a row from late November to early December. The Canucks went 5-3-2 in that time, a .600 points percentage that would actually have them above Colorado if they had maintained to this point. They’re 15-13-8 in games that Miller has played, which is a .527 points percentage. While the sample size without Miller isn’t too big, it was also easily the most fun time to watch Canucks hockey this season before. Could the Canucks do that consistently across the rest of the season?
Con: It’s a 100-Point Scorer
Just last season, Miller put 103 points on the board. That was the highest point total for a Canuck in a season since Daniel Sedin won the Art Ross in 2011. Is that really the kind of guy you trade to improve your team immediately? Or are the Canucks already in a state where they want to retool for the future? Getting one singular playoff run in 4 years and then reconstructing the roster would be such a travesty.
Pretty much everyone who has any sort of hockey knowledge would agree that the best-case scenario for the Canucks is that it works out with the current roster. Though it looks unlikely, Miller has been playing some good games recently with the spotlight on him, particularly against Edmonton on Saturday. We’ve also seen how this current core can succeed, and if they could just find the will to get on one run, maybe we could see glimpses of the 2023-24 Canucks. Miller still clearly has a good player inside of him, and it’s not even like his production has been awful this season. With 32 points in 36 games, Miller’s point production has dropped, but is still 2nd on the team (and 1st on the team is the best player I’ve ever watched in my life). If Miller just consistently displayed the effort levels he’s shown since being in trade rumours, this wouldn’t even be a discussion.
Pro: Locker Room Chemistry Healed?
The vibes have been off this season, and even from an outside view, that’s clear. Rick Tocchet has mentioned that players do not seem “bought in,” a theme that’s persisted throughout the first half. Nobody has really looked like they’re having fun, besides Kiefer Sherwood, who’s just doing his own thing (chasing the single-season hits record). Elias Pettersson seems angry all the time, Quinn Hughes has smiled maybe twice all year, and even Brock Boeser doesn’t appear to be his normal cheery self. They hardly even celebrate when they score currently, which makes it difficult for me to feel the energy.
The main player who’s been blamed for these problems is Miller. Whether true or not, moving Miller would give the locker room no excuse to have problems with each other. Again, the team seemed most like an actual team when Miller wasn’t there. It could have just been a coincidence. It likely wasn’t. The rest of the Canucks would undoubtedly be feeling the effects of the tension in the locker room, which is all centred around Miller. Tocchet is clearly not happy with him. Having a guy like that would probably put everybody else on edge. If Miller gets shipped out, maybe they’ll all have the chance to loosen up and stick to their game in a more relaxed state of mind.
Con: You’re Not Winning That Trade
Initially, it seemed like the Canucks would be able to get some desirable assets out of a Miller trade. Rumoured were names like Alexis Lafrenière, Braden Schneider, and Šimon Nemec. Now, the names out there are Filip Chytil and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. While I am a fan of Chytil, you’d definitely hope they could get more out of a 100-point scorer. Kotkaniemi is not good. The general consensus is that whatever return the Canucks get will be underwhelming. Is it even worth trading him if it’s just guaranteed to make the team worse on paper?
Additionally, trading Miller would likely leave you with a huge gap at 2C. Chytil, Kotkaniemi, and any other centre the Canucks could currently get from a Miller trade are not likely to be effective as the 2nd line centre, topping out more as a 3C. Internally, there is nobody who can step into that role permanently. The other centres for the Canucks are Pius Suter, Teddy Blueger, and Max Sasson, none of which are guys I want to see in that spot game after game. The Canucks centre depth is currently among the best in the league, and considering their left wing depth is already pretty atrocious, getting rid of Miller makes the forward group look significantly weaker than a playoff team would like.
Pro: Gets You Out Of The Rest Of Miller’s Contract
The Canucks are set to be paying Miller $8 million a year until he’s 37. For a player whose production is already falling off approaching age 32, this is definitely a concern. Rather than letting that contract run itself out, you are presented with the current opportunity to flip him for younger assets, and subsequently invest the freed-up money in your own younger players. If Miller is to be traded, it makes sense to do it while it isn’t just a cap dump. You can still get a good return for him right now. Plus, freeing up that cap space would easily allow you to re-sign Brock Boeser, assuming you don’t trade him too.
There is not a single Canucks fan who is happy seeing the team prepare for the future rather than focusing on the present season, but it sadly might be the best option right now. The team’s odds of cracking the playoffs are looking slimmer every day, and I’m starting to lose hope that they can ever start stringing wins together. Every time they’ve had the opportunity to gain momentum from a character win (i.e. @ Toronto, vs Edmonton), they’ve followed it up with a brutal loss. Nothing they’ve done this season suggests they are a playoff team, and the only reason they’re even in the conversation is because there are only 7 good teams in the conference. It may soon come time to gear up for next season.
Con: Gets You Out Of The Rest Of Miller’s Contract
That’s right: there are pros and cons WITHIN the pros and cons. Miller’s contract is not even close to being bad (at least right now). With the cap continuing to go up, that $8 million is taking up less and less of the Canucks’ spending. Considering he hit his prime a couple of seasons after the average player does, and had career highs in his age 30-31 season, it’s easy to imagine that he can keep up decent production for the bulk of his remaining contract. Players don’t just automatically shrivel up and become 20-point players once they hit their mid-30s, and many can still be significant point contributors. Joe Pavelski is the best example of this. In a productive 18-year career, Pavelski’s 16th season was his highest scoring. That was when he was 37, the same age Miller will be turning in his contract’s final year. Just two seasons before, Pavelski had just 31 points in 67 games, a steep drop-off from previous years that he didn’t let define the rest of his career. While I don’t think Miller’s going to hit career highs anymore, he easily has the potential to put up 80-point seasons in any of the remaining years of this contract. For just $8 million, that’s a gamble that seems to be worth it on the production side of things.
Pro: Fixes Elias Pettersson?
We saw what happened in the 10 games Miller missed this season: Elias Pettersson was elite for the only time this season. He scored 15 points in that time, helping the Canucks to their best stretch of the season up to this point. After Miller came back, Pettersson immediately went 6 games scoreless. We also know all the rumours about him and Miller squabbling behind the scenes. It’s been a major focal point of the team over the past month. They’ve been held off the same power play at times, really making fans wonder how bad the problem is.
If Miller were to be traded away, there would be no reason for Pettersson to fail to live up to his $11.6 million contract. Pettersson actually has the same amount of points this season in games with Miller in the lineup versus without him. The difference is that his 15 points with Miller in the lineup have come in 30 games, and his 15 points without Miller in the lineup came in 10. Looking at that statistic, it’s pretty much impossible to refute that Miller’s presence hurts Pettersson’s production. Though both are probably to blame for the beef, Pettersson is the one you need to prioritize over the two, pretty much in terms of age alone. Trading Pettersson for anything would be the dumbest thing they could do, and trading Miller would allow Pettersson to unlock his full potential.
Con: It’s Kinda Just Sad
Miller has worn his heart on his sleeve in Vancouver. He has been the face of some incredible moments, most notably his game-winning goal with 33 seconds left to take down the Oilers in game 5. He’s been a vocal leader, though sometimes to a fault. His emotions have been a tool for him to put his best effort forward, but have also been a problem for him at times. Though it’s been a really bumpy road for Miller in Vancouver, he is one of the best players the franchise has ever seen and deserves to be commended for what he has contributed to Vancouver. At 1.085, he’s 2nd all-time in points per game in franchise history, only trailing Pavel Bure.
It’s not like it’s a done deal currently, but all signs point to a Miller trade coming soon. It’s going to be really depressing if/when it happens. Feel the way you want to feel about him, but you cannot deny the impact that he has had on this franchise. He’s part of the reason we were dragged out of the gutter last season (though, albeit, part of the reason we’re back in it now). I can’t say I’ve always been the biggest fan of his as a player, but I will be sad when the day comes that J.T. Miller is no longer wearing the blue and green.