Contents of Rangers’ pre-Trade Deadline offer for Canucks forward J.T. Miller revealed
1 year ago
The players who the New York Rangers were supposedly willing to offer the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forward J.T. Miller earlier in the season were revealed last week.
This, according to Sportsnet 650’s Satiar Shah on Friday’s edition of Canucks Central:
“There was so much discussion around what should happen around JT Miller. What should they trade him for? There was this real sense from fans who wanted him traded… were adamant to get him out now [in the weeks leading up to the Trade Deadline], so you get the most you can get. We kept looking at it and saying, ‘hm, that’s fair.’ If you can get something you can’t pass up, you’ve got to make the deal. But if all they’re offering is your traditional Trade Deadline package, which is a prospect, a first round pick, and a roster player, that’s kind of whatever.“And that’s essentially what the Rangers had on the table. So from what we can gather, it was essentially, Nils Lundkvist, a first-round pick, and Filip Chytil. Now there was some talk about Kravstov, this and that, but it’s very evident — whether these pieces were all together or not — that the Rangers were not offering Braden Schneider.”
The main takeaway from Shah’s report is that this package wasn’t viewed by the Canucks as enough to get it done.
Essentially, this wasn’t an offer the club — who was still in the playoff hunt at the time of the deadline — viewed as one that was worth shipping out their leading scorer in exchange for. It’s also hard to believe they won’t be offered similar value — if not more — for Miller’s services at the draft this offseason, when more teams are expected to be looking to add impact players.
Like Braden Schneider, Nils Lundkvist is a right-shot defenceman with legitimate top four upside. He’s certainly talented, but at 5’11 and 187 pounds, he’s a tad undersized, which may have been a contributing factor in the Canucks standing pat at the deadline. He just doesn’t fit what the Canucks need in the same way that Braden Schneider — who as Shah mentioned, the Rangers were unwilling to part ways with — does.
Filip Chytil, on the other hand, is a 22-year-old who does a fine job as serving as the Rangers’ third-line centre. Through 67 regular season games this campaign, he put up eight goals and 14 assists, and has added a goal and an assist through 10 playoff games with the Rangers so far. He’d come in and be a younger, more talented option to fill the role that the Canucks had hoped Jason Dickinson would be able to occupy in their bottom six.
Vitali Kravtsov, who Shah alluded was potentially discussed as a sweetener from the Rangers, was selected 9th overall by New York in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Since then, he has played in just 20 games with the Rangers, and spent the entirety of this season in the KHL.
Jim Rutherford has made it clear that the Canucks are ready to make a “non-emotional decision” on J.T. Miller if this summer’s negotiations between Miller’s camp and the Canucks don’t go particularly well. The Canucks can officially sign him to an extension as of July 13th, but Rutherford went on the record in saying that the club would have a “pretty good idea” where they’re at when it comes to their ability to actually extend Miller by the time the July 7th draft in Montreal rolls around.
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