1/8/25 | Elliotte Friedman wrote on Tuesday night, following a report that the Canucks rejected a one-for-one trade of Miller for Zibanejad, that the Rangers spoke with the Canucks about “what something could look like” in a deal for Miller and that “Zibanejad was included in the conversation.” (Sportsnet)
He said that he thinks a bigger deal was potentially talked about but that the Rangers don’t want to move Braden Schneider and Schneider is something that “Vancouver adores.” (Sportsnet)
Emily Kaplan said Tuesday on ESPN that when the Rangers and Canucks were having conversations earlier in the season there was an idea mentioned of a one-for-one swap of JT Miller and Mika Zibanejad and that “from Vancouver’s perspective” it would have had to have been a bigger deal than that.
Adam Rotter: Mika Zibanejad’s involvement in these JT Miller rumors feel a lot like the Jacob Trouba rumors over the summer where wording and semantics and how things are framed matter. Was Mika Zibanejad actually offered up to Vancouver for JT Miller and it was rejected or were the Rangers and Canucks talking concepts and Vancouver said that a one-for-one doesn’t work and any deal would need to be bigger? You ultimately land at the same place, Zibanejad isn’t going to Vancouver for JT Miller, but I feel that the process of getting there matters. Did Vancouver reject Zibanejad entirely or just the idea of it being one-for-one? Would the Canucks do Zibanejad and Braden Schneider for Miller? Because if Vancouver doesn’t want Zibanejad than a deal very likely can’t happen, but if they are willing to take Zibanejad and just need more, then it’s a different story. Then it’s on the Rangers to determine whether they want to move something else to try and make a deal work. It doesn’t seem like anything is going to happen soon, especially since Vancouver still wants to make a run in the playoffs, but the rumors are unlikely to end.
1/3/25 | On 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman was speaking about Vancouver’s, and former Ranger, JT Miller and said “I do think the Rangers are interested, I do, but I don’t know how easy that match is going to be. I’ll say this, if Vancouver wanted to do Zibanejad, and Zibanejad has a no-move clause so he’d have to want to do it, I think that could be done already. I’m not banking on that.”
He added ” the guy I could see Vancouver really liking is Schneider, but I’m not convinced at all the Rangers would do that, as a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t because I think they want to keep Schneider. I don’t know how easy that deal is going to be to make.”
The Rangers have reportedly been interested in bringing Miller back since Chris Drury’s first full season as GM in 2021-22.
Miller, 31, has five years left on his contract that has a cap hit of $8 million.
Adam Rotter: There is a reason why Chris Drury has reportedly been going after JT Miller since he became GM. Miller has turned into the player he was supposed to be when the Rangers drafted him, he’s skilled, hard-nosed and seemingly pushes his teammates. That pushing is reportedly part of his supposed rift with Elias Pettersson and why it seems like the Canucks are going to have to choose between the two. That is a potential franchise-altering move for the Canucks if they decide to trade one of them and it’s a decision that seems hard to make during the season.
Would Miller fit on the Rangers? On paper he seems like a near perfect fit. There was all the talk about Brady Tkachuk a few weeks ago and Miller is a player in that vein. He’s a leader and someone that sets a tone and an example. All the reasons why he would fit with the Rangers are why Vancouver doesn’t want to trade him or at least won’t trade him without netting a big return. I think Braden Schneider is a no-go as the Rangers don’t have a ton of depth on defense and he’s proven to be a very solid player. Again, all the reasons why Vancouver would want him are all the reasons the Rangers want to keep him. A draft pick focused package isn’t going to get Miller, the Rangers would need to trade guys off their roster or top prospects to make this kind of deal. I don’t know how willing the Rangers are to trade the kind of players and prospects that I’d assume the Canucks would want.