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J.T. Miller of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates his game winning goal during the third period in Game Five of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canucks Had to Trade J.T. Miller

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Lukas Bernasiewicz | Last updated Feb 1, 2025 1:55 PM ET

The Vancouver Canucks finally pulled the trigger on star centre J.T. Miller last night, as they sent him back to the New York Rangers. Along with Miller, the Canucks sent Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington to New York for Filip Chytil, American Hockey League (AHL) defender Victor Mancini, and a first-round pick that Vancouver ended up trading in another deal later that night. It’s always hard to let go of players who are top performers and fan favourites on your team, but Miller’s time in Vancouver needed to end due to the amount of drama that always seems to surround him.

Miller vs. Pettersson

During this season, a feud between Miller and Elias Pettersson emerged and was eventually leaked to the media. It became the talking point of every single Vancouver Canucks storyline. It was so widely talked about over all outlets to the point where no one would talk about the Canucks’ on-ice performance and only talk about the rift between its two star centres.

This feud was also not new. It reared its ugly head back in the 2021-22 season, according to former Canucks forward Brad Richardson, who spoke about it on the Missin Curfew Podcast. He said that there was “a lot of tension” between both Miller and Pettersson in that season due to how Miller was trying to speak with and encourage his young teammate.

The two must have found some common ground last season, as both players were key contributors in the Canucks’ playoff run to Game 7 of the second round – a big accomplishment for the Canucks’ organization. But something came up this season and it was the last straw. The Canucks’ organization needed to pick a side in this tough situation.

Ultimately, they chose Pettersson, and for good reason. He is younger than Miller by five years, so he is set to have a longer career than him from this point forward. The Canucks also just re-signed Pettersson to an eight-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $11.6 million. If you need to decide between two players, more often than not, you should go with the player who is younger and has a higher ceiling, not the older player who has been causing locker room issues for at least three seasons.

Miller’s Off-Ice Drama

Miller’s skill and talent can’t be denied or overlooked. But he has been starting off-ice issues within the Canucks’ locker room for years, and not just with Pettersson. In October of 2022, Miller had an argument with Luke Schenn after a period ended. This saw the two players visibly heated and frustrated with each other, so Conor Garland had to separate them.

Now, you may look at the Schenn argument or the Pettersson feud as Miller being a loud and passionate player who wants to win and wants the best from his teammates. I do truly feel that is his intention. But his methods to get the best from his teammates are not working and his vision of how to motivate others does not align with what works for the players around him. If the loudest voice in the room is not motivating the players around him and also not getting along with a star player, then that player needs to be traded. The Canucks did that.

Miller is by no means a bad person or locker room guy, but his message as the vocal leader on the team was not getting through to Pettersson or the rest of the team. Due to that, his time in Vancouver needed to come to an end. Now, both sides can move on and hopefully have more success from it.