Rangers Acquire J.T. Miller From Canucks

Trade discussions between the Rangers and Canucks regarding J.T. Miller have been off and on in recent weeks but a deal is now complete.  Per announcements from both teams, New York has acquired Miller along with defensemen Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington from Vancouver in exchange for center Filip Chytil, defenseman Victor Mancini, and a protected 2025 first-round pick.  The pick is protected in the top-13 this year and if it doesn’t convey this year, the Canucks will instead receive New York’s unprotected 2026 first-rounder.  Structuring the pick like that will encumber the Rangers from moving that 2026 selection in another trade later on.

Miller waived his no-move protection to facilitate the swap, ending what had been a rocky last several weeks for the 31-year-old.  There has been speculation of an internal rift between Miller and center Elias Pettersson, something that team president Jim Rutherford confirmed earlier this week. As a result, Vancouver has been engaging in trade discussions involving both players for quite some time now.

Miller returns to his first NHL team with the Rangers having drafted him 15th overall back in 2011.  He spent parts of six seasons with them, recording 172 points in 341 games before being moved to Tampa Bay in 2018.  He spent parts of two years with them before Vancouver acquired Miller in the 2019 offseason and since then, his career has taken off.

After only recording more than 60 points just once in his career before joining Vancouver, Miller surpassed the point per game mark in four of his first five seasons with them; the only time he didn’t reach at least 70 points was the shortened 2020-21 campaign.  Along the way, he signed a seven-year, $56MM contract that runs through the 2029-30 campaign, meaning New York will be adding another pricey contract to their books with an $8MM AAV; Daily Faceoff’s Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that Vancouver is not retaining salary on Miller’s contract.

But things haven’t gone quite so well for Miller this season.  His offensive numbers – though still respectable – are down as he has nine goals and 26 assists in 40 games so far.  He has just three tallies in his last 24 outings, however, and two of those came in one game.  That drop in performance certainly didn’t help his trade value which likely contributed to the delay in getting this done.

Even with the drop-off in performance this year, Miller will still represent a sizable upgrade on…