The trade drama surrounding the Vancouver Canucks continues on. As the team tries to get back on track, the rift between star forwards JT Miller and Elias Pettersson remains the biggest obstacle to this team's Stanley Cup hopes.
With the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline nearing, the rumor mill is exploding surrounding the Canucks' star players. On a recent edition of Sportsnet's Saturday Headlines, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman dropped a bombshell. He reported that a trade nearly culminated between Vancouver and the New York Rangers that would've sent Miller back to the team that drafted him.
"There was a time over the last 24 hours where J.T. Miller was not going to play," Friedman said. "He was going to be held out of the lineup because talks were progressing on a trade, I believe that team to be with the New York Rangers."
That trade never materialized, but the sense around the league is that Miller remains the player the Canucks will move. The New Jersey Devils were the other team speculated to be nearing a trade. But accoridng to another recent report from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Devils are not one of the teams granted permission to speak with Miller and his representatives regarding a potential deal.
"Following Friedman’s report Saturday evening, Pagnotta added that, as of Saturday, the Devils are not one of the teams with permission to speak with Miller’s camp," he wrote.
The latest updates only intensify the possibility that Miller will be dealt. The Canucks just defeated the Edmonton Oilers in their last contest, but the team is still jockeying for a playoff spot, oscillating between one of the top three spots in the Pacific Division and one of the Western Conference wild card positions.
Whatever decision the team makes, they must figure out something soon. The distraction and drama of the feud and the effects on the team have surpassed the point of annoying and are now costing the Canucks their 2025 season. The rumors should only build and heat up as the weeks count down to the deadline, but all eyes are on Miller and Vancouver and whatever decision they make.
