Fantasy Hockey Blockbuster Trade Breakdown: Canucks Trade J.T. Miller to Rangers after Feud with Elias Pettersson

OK folks, I know the trade deadline isn’t until March, but it has been a crazy 24 hours. Four trades happened starting last night and spilling into this morning, including one we have been waiting for all season.

In this article we are going to break down the blockbuster that we’ve all been anticipating. We'll cover the other trades in my next article. For obvious reasons, there is a lot to cover with this one, so it is deserving of its own spotlight.

Together let's break this down, after the Canucks and the Rangers finally closed the deal (after months of talks, and close but failed deal last week).

The Trade

As per Sportsnet:

To the New York Rangers: J.T. Miller, Jackson Dorrington, Erik Brannstrom

To the Vancouver Canucks: Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, conditional first-round pick (2025)

J.T. Miller Fantasy Outlook

Miller and Elias Pettersson have finally been separated. Too long have we been hearing about the drama between these two elite players on the Canucks. They refused to play together, and slowly details started to leak into the media after a couple years of feuding.

Listen, this happens a lot on teams. More often than you know or will ever hear about. Players fight, and don’t get along. That’s life, and that’s sports. Rarely do those details leak out into the public eye, and seldom are they so extensively covered by the media. That said, several podcasts and news media sites tried to ban themselves from talking about the Canucks because this drama was at the center of every conversation, and we were all tired of hearing about it.

Does it matter who started it? No. The loser in this situation, sadly, is the Canucks. Miller is on a great deal at only $8M AAV, is a leader, and a fierce competitor that hates to lose. It is unfortunate that these two were just unable to coexist in the same locker room. 

It’s no secret though, that throughout this player dispute it has been rumored that Miller has been the instigator and has been too hard on Pettersson and Pettersson has not been taking it very well. 

There are two sides to every story, but in a timeline captured perfectly by DH Sports, things exploded between the two this year due to Miller’s aggressive leadership style and the lack of team success on the ice compared to last year.

This has an eerie similarity to the Winnipeg Jets’ Blake Wheeler and Patrik Laine doesn’t it? But instead of the veteran leader coming out on top, where Laine was shipped out for not having the “right attitude” in Wheeler’s locker room, this time it is the veteran Miller who sees himself moved to another team. 

Honestly, it was the best thing for Laine and I am so happy he is finally happy in Montreal with the Canadiens and is seeing success, after a brief stop in Columbus with the Bluejackets with a similar end. I hope this move does the same for Pettersson, without having to get shopped around to somewhere that will appreciate his personality and his elite playmaking ability.

It was Toronto Maple Leafs legend Mats Sundin who discovered Pettersson prior to him being drafted. He discussed it on the Steve Dangle Podcast when asked what player of the future we should be watching out for. It’s no surprise that the super Swede was drafted by the Canucks with their heavy ties with Swedish players, having recently brought in the Sedin twins (Henrick Sedin and Daniel Sedin) to help with player development.

What this means for the Canucks

Beyond the obvious the drama is over, as I said before the Canucks really are the loser in this situation. While they did get a first round pick, and Chytil can replace Miller on the second line (mostly because they were unable to put Miller and Pettersson on the same line), he is not remotely close to the same pedigree of player. 

The first round pick may be the saving grace, considering they lost an elite player who no matter what, for locker room dynamic and peace, had to deal anyway.

Comparing the two, Pettersson has 11 goals, 22 assists, and 11 powerplay points. He also has 89 shots on goal, 40 hits, and 57 blocked shots.

Miller, on the other hand, has a similar nine goals, 26 assists, and 14 powerplay points. He also has 82 shots on goal, 92 hits, and 28 blocked shots in five fewer games played.

Obviously these two are close. Miller being the harder hitting veteran presence, but Pettersson is more the player type the team is looking for long term. Pettersson resonates with the fans of the Swede centric fanbase, is younger, and has a higher ceiling. It’s no surprise Miller got the boot instead of Pettersson.

Chytil is not to be discounted in this trade. He is a serviceable second line center replacement for the Canucks, and has had a decent year. Is he of the same caliber as Miller? No. Really more suited to be a third line center, the Canucks at least also got a roster player in the same position coming back which leaves them with a temporary filler for that spot.

Chytil has 11 goals, nine assists, and three powerplay points. He also has 89 shots on goal, but only 12 hits and nine blocked shots. Definitely a downgrade, but unless you have a deeper fantasy league he may be considered a streamer at best.

The last piece for the Canucks is depth defender Mancini, who has mostly played in the AHL. He’s played 15 games in the NHL this year, but is not rosterable for fantasy at all.

What this means for the Rangers

Well, the Rangers have finally started to heat up again, and Miller could be a great fit here. The Rangers are a hard nosed physical team with a ton of depth. Trading their captain, Jacob Trouba earlier this year to the Anaheim Ducks by forcing him out with the threat of waivers shoved this locker room from defending President’s Trophy contenders into a downward spiral.

Luckily they have seemed to have levelled out and started to compete again. Miller has a similar playstyle to this team, and will reunite with close friend and former childhood teammate Vincent Trocheck.

We went over Miller’s stats earlier, and adding him to the veteran core which includes the aforementioned Trocheck, Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, make the Rangers way more dangerous. I hope the Canucks insulate Pettersson the first time they play the Rangers, or someone could legitimately get hurt.

Lastly, both Dorrington and Brannstrom are depth pieces that don’t impact your fantasy team, or the Rangers this year and are peripheral at best. Brannstrom at least played a handful of games in the NHL but could not stick it out yet. Neither of these additions matter to you at this time.

Closing thoughts

Again, the Rangers clearly won this trade in the now, but given the Canucks got a roster player back, along with a first round pick, it does give them some future buying power but does put them a step back this season.

The Canucks were handcuffed into making this decision, and in my opinion, they made the right one. They got a decent return this season and in the future, and rid themselves of the distraction that has taken over the media and negatively impacted the team.

Quinn Hughes, captain of the Canucks, also won this trade because he was struggling to keep the peace between his two teammates, and their situation took a lot of the spotlight that was emphasized by their lack of winning this year. Winning does make everything go away, and when your team starts on a slide, a lot of finger pointing and drama starts seeping out.

Your immediate impact is likely both Miller's and Pettersson’s production are going to go up. No more pressure on Pettersson to get along with the veteran Miller, and Miller reunites with a friend on a way better and deeper team that he will have an immediate impact on. 

Both Miller and Pettersson are keeper status, so whether you own one or both, you’ve won. If you want to go after one as a trade target to bolster your forward core for playoffs before the trade deadline, I would go after Miller. Surrounded with talent on a very deep team who is starting to figure it out, you’ll easily stack points and wins, and Miller will be seeing significant powerplay time with the Rangers.