The Vancouver Canucks’ leading scorer is drawing interest from multiple teams around the league.
Frank Seravalli appeared on Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver on Monday and said that the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild are interested in acquiring J.T. Miller. Seravalli noted that the Rangers in particular are extremely interested in a reunion.
Miller is putting together another excellent season in Vancouver. Through 39 games, he has 12 goals and 39 points and is logging 21:12 per night. Since arriving in Vancouver in the summer of 2019, Miller has played three seasons with the Canucks, scoring 157 points over 161 games.
Jim Benning went all-in last summer, signing multiple free agents and trading the team’s first-round pick at the 2021 draft for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland. The Canucks struggled out of the gate, posting an 8-15-2 record through the first two months of play, and Benning and head coach Travis Green wound up getting fired.
Bruce Boudreau took over behind the Canucks’ bench and the team has gone 10-4-2 since. That said, the Canucks still face an uphill climb as they rank 13th in the Western Conference in terms of points percentage.
President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford, who took over when Benning was fired in December, has said that the Canucks’ current focus is around building a long-term contender, so any trade will be for young players or draft picks.
Miller was originally drafted by the Rangers in the first round of the 2011 draft. He spent his first five NHL seasons in New York before getting traded along with Ryan McDonagh to the Tampa Bay Lightning ahead of the 2018 trade deadline. After a year-and-a-half in Tampa, Miller was dealt to the Canucks in exchange for Vancouver’s first-round pick at the 2020 draft.
The Canucks don’t have to be in any rush to trade Miller ahead of this season’s trade deadline. as he has one more year left on his contract at a reasonable $5.25 million cap hit.
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