It’s time to talk about NHL stars Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller

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I did say the Vancouver Canucks were going to face some adversity this NHL season, but I didn’t expect it to be dominated by player drama. 

To those unaware, Vancouver Canuck J.T. Miller has been traded to the New York Rangers, the same team who drafted him back in 2011. Going with Miller to the big apple are defencemen Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington, who have mostly been in the minor leagues. 

In return, the Rangers sent the Canucks forward Filip Chytil, defenceman Victor Mancini, and a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. This pick, however, wasn’t in the Canucks possession for long. 

The Canuck sent it to the Pittsburgh Penguins, which is another team figuring out what to do with the minimal time they have left as playoff hopefuls, alongside forward Danton Heinen, defenceman Vincent Desharnais, and forward prospect Melvin Fernstrom. The Canucks received defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor from the Penguins. 

If that sounds like a lot of moving parts in a short timeframe to you, I would definitely agree. 

All these trades came after lengthy drama within the Canucks’ roster, specifically between Miller and star forward Elias Pettersson. While there’s nothing I can be 100 per cent sure about, what seems to be widely accepted is that these two players have not been getting along for some time now. 

To those who remember, this isn’t the first time Miller has reportedly been offside with the Canucks’ locker room. A few seasons ago, there was a conflict between him and then-captain Bo Horvat. However, unlike last time, Canucks management sided with the player Miller seems to be at odds with and sent him out east.

If I’m being honest, I think this should’ve blown up sooner. Regardless of the success this era of the Canucks has achieved, there seems to be too many problems happening within the last few seasons.

If we assume Miller really was the problem player here, then there’s going to be a non-zero chance another player becomes a problem for the Canucks. If he wasn’t a problem player after all, then the Canucks are for sure going to have another scenario happening like this in the near future. 

So far the Canucks and Miller seem to be doing better after the split, but I’d rather wait until the end of the season to say if there’s a winner in this scenario, which even then would prove challenging as it seems most people involved lost something.

I’ve heard some people speculate that Quinn Hughes may consider going to the New Jersey Devils to join his brothers, Jack and Luke. Even as the current captain, I can’t blame Hughes for moving on from the Canucks to play for another team that is ready to be Stanley Cup contenders for the next handful of years, especially considering he reportedly doesn’t want to play during a rebuild phase for the Canucks. 

For a franchise that is currently tied with the Buffalo Sabres for going the longest without winning their first Stanley Cup championship, I doubt the road there will get any smoother.