J.T. Miller was traded Friday from the Vancouver Canucks to the New York Rangers. It’s a high-risk, high-reward move for both teams to change team composition. But the president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford, left little doubt it would happen.
J.T. Miller Traded
Rangers have acquired JT Miller and two prospects in exchange for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and protected first-rounder, Post can confirm.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) February 1, 2025
The Rangers are sending young centre Filip Chytil, prospect Victor Mancini, and a first-round pick to Vancouver. The Canucks are also including defenceman Erik Brannstrom and prospect Jackson Dorrington in the deal. Furthermore, the Canucks are not retaining any of Miller’s salary.
The first-round pick is top-13 protected for 2025. If the Rangers finish within the top 13 picks in the upcoming draft, the pick becomes unprotected for 2026.
Miller Heads to the Big Apple
Miller’s career continues its fascinating course since being drafted 15th overall in 2011. Taken from the US National Team Development Program, he played his draft +1 season in the Ontario Hockey League at a point-per-game pace. He went from there to join Connecticut for the AHL playoffs, getting one assist in eight games.
Miller broke into the next season, moving between the New York Rangers and their AHL affiliate for the next three seasons. He was decently productive, but never quite their top-six choice and was sent to Tampa Bay in 2018.
He didn’t reach his best in Tampa, either, and after a year and a half, Miller was traded to Vancouver. That was a controversial deal among Canucks fans, as it moved a first-round pick out of town. There’s little doubt now he was worth it, but at the time he was a good, middle-six centre.
Miller had just finished the first year of a five-year contract paying him $5.25 million a season. That’s an awful lot for a middle-six centre who played less than 15 minutes a night the previous season. Many fans wanted a rebuild, and this wasn’t it.
Surprise Superstar
Miller changed minds soon enough. In his first season, he led the team in scoring with 27 goals and 72 points during the COVID-19-shortened season. He followed that with 18 points in 17 playoff games. His success on the scoreboard and smashmouth style endeared him to fans quickly.
He kept it going, too. Over the four Canucks years of that contract, he played 283 games as a front-line player. His 106 goals and 299 points were far beyond anything he had done as a professional. His consistency wasn’t perfect – defence was a frequent sore spot – but it was good enough for that production.
Miller played well enough that management chose him over re-signing team captain Bo Horvat. When it became clear he was an afterthought, Horvat went on a scoring tear, which helped the Canucks get a reasonable return on a forced trade.
Miller, meanwhile, signed his current seven-year, $8 million per deal and smashed it out of the park. His career-best 37 goals and 103 points was followed by 12 points in 13 playoff games. Vancouver finished the year one game away from the Western Conference Final.
That Was Then
The 2024-25 season has been a hard one for both Miller and the Canucks. It is unreasonable to assume they’d reach last season’s high, but falling below the playoff line is unacceptable. Changes happened in the offseason, but nothing that foreshadowed a collapse of this magnitude.
The team was obviously imperfect, and kicking off the year with three straight losses didn’t help. But the ship righted, and by the time they completed their first-ever three-game sweep of California things were running smoothly. We thought.
In mid-November, Miller took a sudden leave of absence for personal reasons, rejoining the team ten games later. Bad defensive habits were creeping back into his game, and his periods of dominance became intermittent. Losses started piling up as conference rivals passed them by.
Old arguments resurfaced as the team dropped in the standings, and it became clear either Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller would be traded. Team president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford, left little doubt it would happen.
Role in the Big Apple
Miller will look to help an under-performing Rangers team turn their season around. There was speculation that the Rangers may sell at the deadline, but it is also possible they are simply looking to shake up their roster to try and get better results. They may not be buying, but they are not selling either.
Time will tell how this trade impacts both teams.
Main Photo: Bob Frid- Imagn Images
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