Sportsnet and TSN stir the pot with 5 potential landing spots for Canucks star J.T. Miller
We are in an echo chamber as we wait for a Canucks trade. In the meantime the NHL world is watching and waiting for the dominoes to fall. The Canucks on the other hand are trying to win games and failing more often than not.
The Oilers are Stanley Cup contenders one point out of first place in the Pacific Division while the Canucks are a middling soap opera currently outside of a playoff spot.
And, in Vancouver’s first visit to Edmonton since the officiating dog-and-pony show last Saturday that led to Connor McDavid being suspended for three games, the Oilers stomped the visitors into a puddle.
“They had their little push in the second period there, but I thought we handled them fairly well,” said Leon Draisaitl. “All-in-all I thought it was a good effort by us.”
Handled them well? They beat the Canucks so badly there is word that George Parros and the Department of Player Safety might be handing them a suspension.”
“What is a Corey Perry hat trick? A point, an ambush, and one devious S.O.B. of a mindfrak.
“The point came from a greasy battle won behind the net, Perry getting the puck to Mattias Ekholm, who slammed it back down low, with Adam Henrique picking up the puck and slamming it home in net on a wicked wraparound.
“It was a nasty move by Perry for sure, but was worth the penalty he got on the play, if only to send a message to Vancouver that if Edmonton’s star players can get mauled and cross-checked in the face, so can Vancouver’s star players. That’s the NHL jungle and Perry is a longtime king of the forest.”
You have to wonder why a Perry hat trick wouldn’t involve a date with Connor McDavid’s mom, but we digress.
It wasn’t a good week for the Canucks, the Oilers beating coming after a collapse against the middling Sabres.
“In the discussion of what comes next, one fact shouldn’t be ignored: The Canucks have lacked offensive juice and two-way discipline all season. That’s been clear, but this effort against a flawed, inconsistent Sabres team solidifies it,” writes Thomas Drance for The Athletic.
As Vancouver turns
The Power Rankings
EPSN has the Canucks down three spots to 20th and everyone is focusing on some sort of trade.
Playoff hope dipping
“There was no better encapsulation of the Canucks’ season than their heart-stopping, one-goal win over the Oilers followed by their heart-wrenching one-goal loss to the Sabres at home this week. It’s as if they’re tied to a giant rubber band, where every leap forward is met with an emphatic tug backward.
“Can’t watch daytime soap operas anymore? Don’t worry, the Vancouver Canucks will give everyone their fill every night.
“The problem isn’t necessarily that there is a rift between Miller and Pettersson. It’s that the situation seems to be dragging onto the ice and holding the team back from building on last year’s success.
After a disappointing playoff performance last spring, Pettersson has had an underwhelming first half of the season. He is scoring at a career-low rate of 2.33 points per 60 through 39 games. According to tracking by Corey Sznajder at AllThreeZones, his playmaking isn’t remarkably different from last year. But there are a few elements of his game that have declined.
“Pettersson isn’t as effective in transition this season, with fewer controlled entries. And both his shot volume and speed are down in all situations. At five-on-five, his average shooting distance is a bit further from years past. All of that may be contributing to his goal-scoring rate plummeting. Pettersson has really only had one hot streak this season — and it coincided with Miller’s time away from the team.
“Miller’s no stranger to having up-and-down seasons. His scoring rate is closer to his levels back in 2022-23, and a lot of that has to do with goals. Miller, like Pettersson, is generating fewer shots and struggling to convert on them. And unlike last season, he doesn’t have the play-driving to back that up. Holes in Miller’s game have come up in seasons past, especially when power play scoring masked some of the deficiencies below the surface. While his numbers don’t look too bad on paper, it’s clear he isn’t driving the second line offensively. And there have been some serious defensive lapses on top of that.
“The Canucks’ one-two punch down the middle is seriously struggling, and now it’s starting to drag the rest of the team down around them.
“The Canucks’ woes lead off our look at the midseason concern-o-meter™.
Vancouver Canucks
Concern-o-meter: 10/10
“The Canucks still have a very good shot of making the playoffs — a 79 per cent chance, to be exact — despite all of their issues. But the real question with this team isn’t so much whether this team could make the post-season but if they can do any damage in it.
“The team that took the ice on Saturday night against the Oilers didn’t look like one with any internal beef or external issues on the ice. The Canucks controlled play with 67 per cent of the five-on-five expected goal share and Limited a dangerous Oilers team to just 15 shots on goal in all situations. But games like that have been few and far between in Vancouver. Just days before, they were thumped 6-1 by the Jets and 5-1 by the Kings.
At this point, the team may be better served stepping back and resetting for next season. Instead, management seems more likely to solve the Miller-Pettersson situation by shipping one of them out. And while that may have to be the solution eventually, acting on it in-season will likely tank the quality of the return and create bigger long-term problems.”
“The Canucks have one of the best schedules next week. Along the way of a four-game slate, Vancouver will make three light night appearances. Two of their upcoming opponents, the Red Wings and Blues, are benefiting from coaching changes … but their defence is also trending in the wrong direction lately. The Predators, who the Canucks meet on Tuesday, are one of the biggest disappointments of the season and sit 29th in the standings. But it turns out Vancouver is right there with Nashville in terms of falling short of expectations.”
Usually, this column would feature a number of Canucks because their schedule is that appealing. But it’s hard to find much value in Vancouver. Quinn Hughes is playing at a ridiculous MVP level. But Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller have wilted. Both goaltenders are seriously struggling. And even the depth scoring has pretty much dried up lately.”
Five potential landing spots for Canucks star J.T. Miller
New York Rangers: “New York’s highest-paid forwards all basically have the same trade protection as Miller does, so — in keeping with the greater theme, here — nothing about this would be easy.
“That said, the Rangers have some interesting, relatively young blue-line pieces like Ryan Lindgren and K’Andre Miller. Both of those players need new contracts this summer and could be approaching an inflection point with the organization.
“There’s also 25-year-old centre Filip Chytil and intriguing prospects like Brennan Othmann — already a second-year pro — and Gabe Perreault, who’s likely to turn pro after his sophomore year at Boston College this season.”
Why it makes sense according to Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala: “The Canucks save $1.5 million in cap space on this trade, bringing their total projected available deadline day cap space to $8.4 million. Swapping goalies affords Carolina the flexibility of using Silovs if necessary. He proved he can rise to the occasion in the playoffs last year for the Canucks and Carolina has had a difficult time keeping their goalies healthy.”
“The Devils do have a golden trade chip in 20-year-old, right-shot defenceman Simon Nemec. Add 23-year-old Dawson Mercer and his $4-million cap hit to the mix and maybe you’re getting somewhere.”
Dallas Stars: “The Stars have been linked more to defencemen than guys who can help up front, but Miller is the type of built-for-the-playoffs forward that might make GM Jim Nill reconsider his priorities. Dallas, of course, has some salary flexibility because Tyler Seguin is expected to be on long-term injured reserve until the end of the season”
Columbus Blue Jackets: “Miller grew up on the Ohio/Pennsylvania border a huge Penguins fan. If now isn’t the right time to join the retooling Pens, maybe the surging Jackets are a perfect compromise?
“Columbus also just happens to have a quality blue liner listed on many trade boards in the form of Ivan Provorov. Perhaps Vancouver, which needs to upgrade its defence corps, is interested in him as a starting point.”
NHL insider Pierre LeBrun agrees: “There are other teams involved. But one thing the Canucks have sort of changed their tune on when this started six, seven weeks ago … the Canucks said we need apples for apples we are trying to make the playoff here. We don’t want to make a futures deal.
What nixed the deal with the New York Rangers
“And for the Vancouver Canucks … a big part of that deal would have been to take the cap space that you had from moving on from J.T. Miller and potential some of those assets and then flipping them to make your team better in the short term to be a Stanley Cup playoff team this year. So back to the drawing board for the Canucks.”
Elliotte Friedman: Canucks will keep Petterson
A loss to the worst team in the league
“At this point, you could just trade them all. Or some of them. Or someone. After an impressive, combative win Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers that should have galvanized the Canucks and given them a platform to finally blast off and start stringing together wins, Vancouver gagged on another third-period lead and lost 3-2 to the worst team in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference.
“So, yes, the players are making it easy for Allvin to explore changes to the team’s core and beyond.”