J.T. Miller Delivers Against Oilers As Canucks' Trade Drama Comes To A Head

After one of his strongest outings of the year, J.T. Miller parried away reporters’ questions about whether he’d played his last game for his current team.

“I'm planning on being a Canuck today, tomorrow,” he said after the Canucks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. “Whatever happens, happens. I'm focused on the next game.”

Less than two hours before puck drop, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that Miller had been close to being held out of Saturday’s game as the Canucks worked to finalize a trade that would send him to the New York Rangers.

Friedman added that some other teams have now received permission to speak with Miller and his agent, Brian Bartlett, and that Elias Pettersson has indicated that he wants to remain with Vancouver.

A week after the Canucks overcame major travel challenges to shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena off a defensive masterclass from Pettersson, they earned another big win under trying circumstances against Edmonton. In between, they were crushed by the Winnipeg Jets and Los Angeles Kings — outscored 11-2 over the two games, with Miller taking plenty of the blame for the defensive lapses.

On Saturday, Miller was named the game’s third star after snapping a five-game pointless streak with a pair of power-play assists. He went 18-for-23 in the face-off circle and held Connor McDavid to just five shot attempts and one power-play assist in a hard matchup role.

“It’s probably good we’re playing the Oilers tonight,” Miller conceded postgame. “Have a matchup assignment, trying to keep me focused.”

If Saturday’s tradewinds do finally lead to a deal, it’ll be the end of an era in Vancouver.

During their five-and-a-half years together, Miller and Elias Pettersson enjoyed early success under Travis Green as two-thirds of the ‘Lotto Line’ along with Brock Boeser (Nos. 6, 40 and 9). And while they’ve continued to spend plenty of time together on the power play, they’ve usually anchored their own lines in recent years.

Here’s a side-by-side analysis of Vancouver’s cantankerous centers.

Both shoot left, and both have worn an ‘A’ for the Canucks for multiple seasons: four years for Miller and three for Pettersson. They also earned roster spots on their national teams for next month’s 4 Nations Face-Off, even though both are underperforming this season.

Pettersson was drafted fifth overall by the Canucks in 2017 and has 441 points in 446 career NHL games — tops in his draft class. He received 151 of 171 first-place votes to win the Calder Trophy in 2019 and has skated in four All-Star games. He turned 26 in November.

Miller will turn 32 in March, so he’s five-and-a-half years older — a significant differential in hockey years. He was drafted 15th overall by the Rangers in 2011, dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2018 trade deadline, then moved to Vancouver at the 2019 draft. In his five-and-a-half seasons in Vancouver, he has put up 433 points in 399 games — by far, the best production of his career.

Miller has played in one All-Star game, in Toronto in 2024. Last season, he peaked with career highs of 37 goals and 103 points, and tied for the team lead with 12 playoff points in 13 games. Pettersson’s best year came one season earlier, with 39 goals and 102 points in 2022-23.

Miller is currently in the second season of a seven-year contract that runs through the 2029-30 season, carrying a cap hit of $8 million a year. His full no-movement clause rolls back to 15-team no-trade protection in the final three seasons. If he waives his current trade protection to be moved out of Vancouver, those clauses may or may not remain active, depending on the preferences of his new team.

Related: Oilers' McDavid, Canucks' Myers Receive Match Penalties In Fierce Ending

Pettersson is in the first year of an eight-year contract which runs through the 2031-32 season. His cap hit is $11.6 million, which is currently the fifth-highest in the league. He’ll drop at least one spot next year, when Leon Draisaitl’s $14 million per year extension begins.

With the salary cap expected to rise dramatically over the next few years, both players will eat up smaller and smaller percentages of their teams’ cap space as the ceiling goes higher and higher.

At their best, both players are elite game-breakers — highly skilled and effective as both shooters and passers. Looking at last season’s data from NHL Edge, Miller held a slight edge in top skating speed and his best goal-scoring spot was around the left face-off circle, while Pettersson did his best work along the right wall.

Miller is better on the dot and plays a more physical game, reaching the 200-hit mark in each of the last two seasons. Pettersson cracked 50 percent on draws for the first time last season and threw a career-high 125 hits, but both those numbers have dipped amid his struggles this year.

And there have been struggles. If both players weren’t playing below their expected standard, none of this would even be a conversation.

More than halfway through the season, Miller and Pettersson were deadlocked with just 29 points each heading into Saturday night’s clash with the Oilers. With four fewer games played, Miller moved ahead with his two assists on Saturday.

When Miller is at his best in Vancouver, fans chant his name. But, he's also front of mind when things are going badly, when his misreads and defensive lapses can lead to unfortunate events. Against the Jets and Kings earlier this week, his ice time was cut to less than 15 minutes in each game.

Pettersson gets criticized for not putting up points. And while checkers don't usually make $11 million, he delivers consistent results on the defensive side of the puck on most nights.

The rumors of discourse between Miller and Pettersson go back years. And while it seemed like both players had agreed not to let bad blood get in the way of a good thing when they chose to forego free agency and remain in Vancouver, this year's discord has pushed the rift to the forefront.

The Canucks learned what life was like without the durable Miller when he missed 10 games for personal reasons earlier this season. If he is moved, the team will likely get a nice haul back in return.

Maybe the chemistry experiment will spark better second-half results and a return to playoff-contender status. Maybe it won't.

Either way, Miller's performance on Saturday will linger as a reminder of what he can do when he's at the top of his game.

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