For the second straight Friday night, the NHL produced a blockbuster trade involving a player who put up more than 100 points last season.
Seven days after the Carolina Hurricanes nabbed two-time 100-point scorer Mikko Rantanen in a deal with the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Rangers acquired controversial but high-scoring center J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks.
Miller, who had 103 points last season, was sent to New York along with Jackson Dorrington, a 20-year-old defenseman playing for Northeastern University, and 25-year-old defenseman Erik Brannstrom. In exchange, the Canucks got center Filip Chytil, rookie defenseman Victor Mancini and a top-13 protected first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft — if it lands that high, the Canucks will get New York’s unprotected first-rounder in 2026.
Miller, who agreed to waive his no-movement clause, was listed as a scratch by the Canucks for their road game against the Dallas Stars and left American Airlines Center before puck drop. He is expected to join the Rangers in time for their nationally televised game against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon. The Rangers can use him — they’ve lost their past two games in regulation and dropped back to 13th place in the Eastern Conference, five points out of the second wild card.
“On behalf of the entire Canucks organization I want to thank J.T. for his time here in Vancouver,” said Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, who wasted no time wheeling the pick he got from the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Penguins — the Canucks got defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor while sending the first-rounder plus forward Danton Heinen, defenceman Vincent Desharnais and the rights to forward Melvin Fernström to the Penguins.
“J.T. was a passionate impact player and good leader for our hockey team. Moving him was not an easy decision but we are pleased with our return from the Rangers. Both Filip and Victor are good additions for our club and we are excited to see what they bring to us on the ice.”
It’s the third major trade by the Rangers in the past eight weeks, but the first one in which the biggest name comes to New York. The Rangers traded their captain, defenseman Jacob Trouba, to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6 and sent forward Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken two weeks later. Their return was defensemen Urho Vaakanainen and Will Borgen, plus three draft picks.
The Rangers reportedly were near a trade last week for Miller, who had NHL career highs of 37 goals and 103 points last season, but the deal fell through. The 31-year-old has nine goals and 35 points in 40 games this season, and he’s seventh in the NHL with a 58.6 face-off percentage. Miller took a personal leave of absence in November and missed 10 games before returning to the ice on Dec. 12.
One reason the Canucks were willing to make the deal is that Miller and Elias Pettersson reportedly have been feuding. Vancouver president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford confirmed Thursday that the tension between the two was negatively impacting the team, and he insinuated that the only way to solve the problem would be to break them up. That’s what happened on Friday.
“I felt like for a long time that there was a solution here because everybody has worked on it, including the parties involved … But it only gets resolved for a short period of time and then it festers again and so it certainly appears like there’s not a good solution that would keep this group together,” Rutherford said.
Related: NHL insider warns Rangers to do their ‘homework’ before making J.T. Miller trade
J.T. Miller returning to Rangers in trade with Canucks
The Rangers selected Miller in the first round (No. 15) of the 2011 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut with the Rangers on Feb. 5, 2013, became a regular in 2014-15 and had back-to-back 22-goal seasons for New York in 2015-16 and 2016-17, when he finished with 56 points and was plus-17.
But the Rangers struggled in 2017-18, and Miller was shipped out to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 26, 2018, along with captain Ryan McDonagh. Miller had 10 goals and 18 points in 19 games for the Lightning during the remainder of the 2017-18 season. But after a 13-goal, 47-point season in 2018-19, the Lightning sent him to the Canucks in June 2019.
Miller became a better than a point-per-game player in Vancouver, piling up 437 points (152 goals, 285 assists) in 404 games, including 284 points (101 goals, 183 assists) in 242 games from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
He is in the second season of a seven-year, $56 million contract that carries an $8 million cap hit.
Brannstrom has yet to make an impact in the NHL despite being selected in the first round (No. 15) of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights. He had eight points (three goals, five assists) and was minus-4 in 28 NHL games during this season, his first with the Canucks, who acquired him from the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 4. The Avalanche had signed him on July 2 after he spent five seasons with the Ottawa Senators, recording 69 points (seven goals, 62 assists) in 266 games.
Dorrington has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 23 games at Northeastern University this season. In three collegiate seasons, he has 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists) in 91 games.
The biggest piece going back to the Canucks is Chytil, who’s been quite useful when he can stay on the ice — but was plagued by injuries, particularly concussions, during his eight seasons with the Rangers. The No. 21 pick in the 2017 draft missed all but 10 games during the regular season in 2023-24 because of a concussion and has missed 10 games this season because of injuries. In 41 games, Chytil has 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) and is plus-4.
His best offensive season came in 2022-23, when he had 22 goals and 45 points in 75 games. In 378 games with the Rangers, he had 164 points (75 goals, 89 assists). The 25-year-old from Czechia is in the second season of a four-year, $17.75 million contract ($4.44 million average annual value).
Mancini, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft, surprised everyone by making the Rangers out of training camp this season, just a few months after turning pro and playing seven games with Hartford of the American Hockey League. The 22-year-old had five points (one goal, four assists) in 15 games with the Rangers before being sent down to Hartford.