2/1/25 | Elliotte Friedman said on NHL Network last night that the Rangers were Miller’s first choice and that the deal broke down two weeks ago when the Rangers were asking for Vancouver to retain salary. Once the Rangers dropped that demand the deal got done.
1/31/25 | The Rangers have acquired JT Miller, Jackson Dorrington and Erik Brannstrom from Vancouver in exchange for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and a conditional first round pick.
The first round pick is top-13 protected in 2025. If the Rangers end up with a pick in the top-13 this year then it becomes an unprotected first round pick in 2026.
Dorrington was 6th round pick in 2022 and is currently at Northeastern University.
Brannstrom, 25, was a first round pick of Vegas in 2017 and traded to Ottawa for Mark Stone in 2019. He has 10 goals and 67 assists in 294 games. He is a left shot defenseman and 5-10, 185. He was on waivers earlier in January.
Miller is signed for five more seasons at $8 million per season. The Canucks are not retaining any of Miller’s salary.
Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Jimmy Vesey, albeit in a return, are the only players left from when Miller was traded. He and Vincent Trocheck are close friends from the Pittsburgh area.
Adam Rotter: It’s seemed like Miller was coming to the Rangers ever since Chris Drury became GM and after a few close calls, he’s finally back.
Miller makes the Rangers better. He brings a lot of what they need in energy, a straight ahead game and he has skill. He’s going to push his teammates and the only reason he’s being traded is because of a conflict he had with Elias Pettersson. Obviously the Rangers don’t view his attitude as a problem, in fact, his attitude is one of the main reasons that they seemingly made this trade. It’s too early to do now, but if Miller fits in and plays well this season then you could definitely see him being the Captain next season. I’m guessing that Miller will slot in at center, not wing, and may look good next Will Cuylle. There is risk involved. He’s 31 and carries an $8 million dollar cap hit for five more seasons, but the NHL also announced today that the cap will be $95.5 million next season, $104 million the following year and $113.5 the year after that. But the Rangers got Miller to win now. They still want to make the playoffs this year and with Igor Shesterkin in net they should always have a chance.
The Rangers certainly are not expecting to pick in the top-13 but this does give them some cover if things go in the wrong direction or they miss the playoffs but still move up in the lottery. An unprotected first round pick next year usually wouldn’t seem risky for a team built like the Rangers, but who would have expected them to even be in a position this year to worry about protecting a pick in the top-13? It’s a risk, but I think the Rangers will be picking 14 or higher this year and will then still have next years pick.
I really hope Filip Chytil is able to have a long, nice career as an NHL player, but with his concussion history it will always seem like he is one hit away. There were plenty of nights this season where Chytil was the Rangers best player but then he’d get hurt. We’ve been watching Chytil since before the Rangers first traded JT Miller. He, not Lias Andersson, made the Rangers out of training camp in 2017-18 and we’ve seen him flash his potential but always get stopped before he could really take off. It seemed like maybe that was going to be last year and then the whole year was lost. Again, there have been times this season where he’s been flying but the Rangers weren’t going to get Miller for nothing. I didn’t really think he’d have a ton of value because of his health and by the numbers, Chytil doesn’t even compare to what Miller could bring offensively. at least historically, but Vancouver needed a center in return and he was the only one that fit.
Victor Mancini was a surprise in training camp and played 15 games. Will Borgen’s extension made him a bit more expendable but Mancini’s inclusion also speaks to who the Rangers didn’t include. They held onto Braden Schneider, they didn’t trade Ryan Lindgren’s expiring contract and K’Andre Miller also remains.
Dorrington is someone the Rangers will probably sign when he finishes up in college. He doesn’t seem like a top prospect, but neither was Mancini.
Brannstrom is a highly skilled, small, left shot defenseman. He’s basically the same as Zac Jones, but with more experience. He’s worth taking a flyer on for depth. He’s in the AHL right now and likely fills Mancini there, but he could easily replace Jones as the seventh defenseman.
Now the question is whether this is it. My guess is that the Rangers want to see what Miller brings before they do anything else big. The big focus now shifts to whether the Rangers are willing to move Ryan Lindgren’s expiring contract if they are in the middle of a playoff race.