Transcript of Canucks Send JT. Miller To The Rangers In BLOCKBUSTER | Instant Analysis

There it finally is. Jt Miller is a New York Ranger again. The full deal is as follows. The New York Rangers acquire JT Miller, Eric Brandstrom, defenseman, and Jackson Dorington, who is a prospect at university right now. The Vancouver Canucks acquire Philip Heedle, Victor Mancini, defensive prospect, and a protected first-round pick. Look, most But you already know at least part of the backstory for why JT Miller is being traded. In the highly unlikely scenario that you've been living under a rock, just woke up from a coma, or returned from a long vacation from space, basically, here's what's happened. The Vancouver Canucks last season? Pretty good team. So good that they went all the way to the end of the second round, which for some of you is not going to sound all that impressive, but there's a lot of elite fans here. They went all the way to game seven against the Edmondson Oilers, who went all the to game seven in the Stanley Cup final. If the Canucks have Brock Besser in game seven, who knows what happens. But if ifs and buts were Gandy and nuts, JT Miller wouldn't be a New York ranger right now.

The Canucks lost. So heading into the season, what did the Canucks really lose? Well, they lost Nikita Zdorow and Elias Lindholm, guys who they acquired, though, partway through last season. No, you don't have Thatcher Demko in net because he's beginning the season injured, but you have Arthur Shilovs, who was pretty good for you in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and you just signed Kevin Lankin, who has been really good for the Canucks this season in net. There was every reason to assume the Canucks would have a pretty good year. What's wild is despite everything they've gone through, they still might make the playoffs. They've won three straight at the time I'm shooting this. But for months and months and months, something hasn't been right. Something's been rotten. There has been a rift in the Vancouver Canucks locker room, mostly or primarily between JT Miller and and Elias Petterson. Exact details are scarce, but basically, these two, their personalities, did not gel together at all. Jt Miller, hot-tempered, fiery guy, passionate, maybe didn't gel with Elias Petterson. A little calmer, quieter. The tragedy in all of this is the sheer amount of unbridled, ridiculously elite talent that both of these guys have.

They should have been Knux and teammates for a very long time. Now, JT Miller has been traded in year two of a seven-year extension. Who knows? I might be sitting here in a few days because the Knucks just traded Elias Petterson, too. Even though at the time I'm shooting this, things aren't even going all that bad for the Knucks. They're in a playoff spot. They've won a few straight games. The situation was beyond repair, and they made up their mind to trade at least JT Miller. Jt Miller has been traded by the Vancouver Knucks God knows how many times. He was traded at the draft a few years ago, and then it didn't It didn't happen. Then he was traded a couple of weeks ago or it looked like it was going to happen, and then it didn't happen. Then it almost happened again and it didn't happen. Then tonight when they said, Elliott Friedmann said, JT Miller, he's been held out of this game. Things are heating up with the New York Rangers. I thought, Is it happening again? There's no way this is actually it. And it is. It's finally here. Now we don't have to talk about will they or won't they.

We've known for a while that they were going to, and they have. New York Rangers fans, What are you acquiring? You can't just be like, Well, we know JT Miller from when he was a Ranger before. No, bit of a different player. Jt Miller's most productive season with the New York Rangers was 22 goals and 56 points. Last year, JT Miller had 37 goals and three points. You could argue he's gotten better because he has by a lot. Between the regular season and playoffs, JT Miller has played 549 games in the NHL since he last played a game as a member of the New York Rangers. That's how long a goal this was. So what are you acquiring? I already told you about last year when JT Miller had 37 goals on 103 points. Well, you might have heard that this season has been awful. It's been terrible. He took time off. He's been overcoming the fact that this team is dysfunctional, and he's a big part of it. You know what? Despite all that, I take a look at his numbers. He's only got nine goals in 40 games. That's not very good, but he's got 35 points.

This dude is having far in a way, the worst season he's had in many, many, many years, still nearly a point of game player. If JT Miller is the player and the person that we think JT Miller is, he is going to show up in Madison Square Garden absolutely A lot out of a cannon. Last season, he had 37 goals. The season before, he had 32. The season before that, he also had 32. The season before that, he only had 15 goals in 53 games in a season that wasn't very good for him. That was the all-Canadian division season. You probably didn't see very much of it, but a lot of Canox fans, including JT Miller, would like to forget it, and they should. Because the season before, JT Miller had 27 goals in just 69 games. Guess what? That is a pace of over 30 goals. Jt Miller is money in the bank for 30 goals a year unless the year is catastrophic. The last time JT Miller didn't hit 30 goals was like global event and whatever the hell this year was. Every season, when you look at your roster and you got to figure out how many goals are in your lineup, how many goals you're going to need and how many goals you're going to need to stop.

You're going to look at the JT Miller slot in your lineup and go, Oh, there's 30. It's a bit of a lazy thing that people always go back to, but in this one, I think it's just dead true. If you get If you're not the best player in a trade, you win the trade. Jt Miller is by miles and galaxies the best player in this trade. At the time I am shooting this video, the New York Rangers are five points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern You don't need to worry about that for the first round pick that they gave up because the first round pick is protected. That's not why I'm bringing it up. Their goal differential right now, after the miserable start that they had, is just minus three. The team below them is minus 27. The team above them is minus 2. Despite losing their last two games, the Rangers are 6, 2, and 2 in their last 10. If you haven't been paying attention to them for a while, you got to adjust your thinking with the New York Rangers a little bit here. They have 32 games left this season, 64 four points on the board.

There's a lot of season left to be played here. They might just do it. On top of that, the Rangers get a couple other little pieces in this deal that could end up helping them. Eric Brandstrom is a defenseman. First A high first-round pick in 2017, which is getting further and further behind us. Currently, after years and years and years of trying to establish himself as a regular NHL player, Eric Brandstrom is in the minors right now. He's played eight games for Vancouver's Minor League team. He's got 12 points. He's a defenseman. At just 900 grand against the cap, worst case, I think this guy plays a few games for the Rangers, and he's serviceable. Even if he stinks, he You send him down, you bury him in the minors. But even though he's not exactly a prospect anymore, there is still a chance that Eric Brandstrom still has more to give, and he's going to give it as a member of the New York Rangers. Then there's the signing rights to Jackson Dorington. This is actually interesting. So Jackson Dorington is a defensive prospect. He's a prospect. He was only picked in 2022. He's 20 years old.

He'll be 21 in April, and he plays defense for Northeastern University. He's got two goals and 10 points in 23 games in university. Steve, why are you even bringing that up? He's clearly a bust. Well, I'll admit 10 points in 23 games didn't make me raise my eyebrows. Then you find out his university team only has six players with double-digit points, and he's one of them. He's actually second among D on that team, and 6'2, 210 pounds. There might be something there. Of course, you got to sign the guy first. Easier said than done. Now, what are the Vancouver Canucks get? Man, not what I thought. Put it that way. I listened to the CJ show, the Chris Johnston show on SDPN. That means I'm smart. I'm smart because CJ is smart. One of the things that's been talked about with the Vancouver Knucks for a long time is if they're going to trade Miller and Petterson or both, they got to get back a real high-quality center in return. Someone who could probably play in their top six. Philip Heedle is going to get a chance to be that player. You see the wording there?

He's going to get a chance to be that player. He hasn't been that player. I mean, at first glance, he's everything you want in a player. Why wouldn't you want this player? 6'2, 210 pounds. Yes, please. He's only 25. Yes, please. 2017 first round pick, despite the fact that he's only 25 between the regular season and playoff, Philippiedal has already played over 400 NHL games. Yes. Here's the problem. 2022-2023 season, Philippiedal's breakout year. In 74 games, he has 22 goals, 23 assists, 45 points. All right, now we're cooking on a deep team full of veterans like the Rangers. That's great. Then the next year, he only played 10 games, had no goals and six assists. Then in the playoffs, he played six games and had no goals and no assists. Now, that's not because he stinks. That's because he got hurt, and he got hurt bad. How's he been this season? It depends on how you look at it. 11 goals and 20 points in 43 games. Is that what you would hope for for a player with the expectations that have been placed on Philip Heedle? No. Is that a pretty good offensive total for a player who only played 16 professional games last year and scored goals in none of them?

Yeah, I'd say this year is going pretty good, all things considered. The problem with Philip Heedle isn't that, oh, yeah, he's got room to grow. Of course, he's got room to grow, but he's got room to get back to what he was before. He's still building to that. I think he's a really good player. I think he's a really versatile there. But again, this season might not be the best season to judge him by. I hope Canucks fans give him a chance because who knows? Maybe he just goes off for the rest of the season. My bet is it takes a little bit of time for him to get adjusted. You go into the offseason, he gets a good offseason under him, and then you start cooking with gasoline at the beginning of next season. Victor Mancini is an interesting one because he's a prospect. He was only picked in 2022, a fifth round A fifth-round pick. A fifth-round pick in 2022, 159th overall, and he's already played NHL games. He's already got his first NHL goal. A goal enforces for five points in 15 games this season. Now, most of it has been played in the American League with the Hartford Wolf pack.

He's got 10 points in 23 games. It's nothing to write home about. But when he was scratched from the game that he was supposed to play tonight, he was scratched from playing on the first pair. Again, reminding you that this is a 22-year-old fifth-round pick from 2022. One thing I know every GM in the league looks at, including Chris Drury, the kid shoots right on D, very important, 6'3, 229 pounds. If he does play for Vancouver's Minor League affiliate, I don't think it's going to be for long. I think this guy is going to play NHL Games for the Knucks this year, and I think he's got a chance to play NHL Games for the Knucks for a long time. On paper, this deal does not look good at all for the the Vancouver Knucks. I'll be honest. You would expect more from this deal for the Vancouver Knucks. A few things need to happen for this deal to go well for them. Beatles got to get back to what he was, and then some. He got a hit on the first round pick that you got from the Rangers or flip it into something different and something that helps your team.

But the other thing that I think really ties the room together, if you're the Vancouver Canucks, if Mancini hits. I don't mean hits like hits people, although I bet he will hits. This guy becomes a legitimate top four defenseman in the NHL. Who knows? What if Victor Mancini becomes the long-term D partner for Quinn Hughes, and Philip Hirona can run his own thing on the second pair? Maybe not right now, but at some point. Then you got Chaos Giraffe on the third pair. Quinn Hughes is one of the best, if not the best defenseman in the world, but helps to have friends. When it comes to the Vancouver-Conox blue line, the more the merrier, good job picking up Mancini. Now, that's me trying to talk up like, Hey, I think the Knucks did all right here. My honest opinion, the day that this trade happens, the Rangers wiped the floor with the Knucks. The Rangers who weathered their own storm a few months ago, Oh, we're trading Kreider, we're trading this guy, we're trading that guy. They weathered the storm. They're doing all right. They might mess around and make the playoffs, and they just bought.

Bought in a big way for this season and seasons to come, with the cap going up, especially. All of a sudden, that Shesterken deal looks pretty good, too. But if you're the Rangers, you gave up a player you basically didn't have last year, a player who is, I mean, a fifth rounder from 2022 and a protected first. In return, you get JT Miller. You give those things up for a guaranteed 30 goal, 80, 90 point guy in a heartbeat. The Rangers weathered their own storm. The Vancouver Canucks were left screwed by the Carolina Hurricanes and the Rantanin deal because there's been all these rumors for all this time, where Miller's going, he's going to these blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. It became very obvious that the Knucks were left at the altar here. As a result, the Knucks were in a position where the Rangers could say, take it or leave it. I guess the question is, what happens next? Does Petterson still get traded? Do the Knucks now have enough money to sign Brock Besser? Does Brock Besser want to sign in Vancouver without JT Miller and potentially without Elias Petterson?

Are the Petterson to Buffalo rumors more than just rumors. Buddy, click subscribe because we're not done here. For now, that is it for this one. Thank you very much for watching. Click like if you like this video. Click subscribe if you really liked it. Tell all your friends, JT Miller is a New York ranger once again..