In the latest edition of his Trade Targets board, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli listed a few Vancouver Canucks players there.
The first player on his board was JT Miller. Here’s what Seravalli had to say regarding the Canucks forward:
Scoop: Will he? Won’t he? Here’s the deal: the Canucks seems to have reached a point where they are ready to move on from Miller. Likewise, Miller seems to have reached a point where he is ready to move on from the Canucks. The hold up is that the Canucks are trying to extract the most value possible for a very distressed asset. That’s why the Hurricanes, Bruins, Devils, and to a lesser-extent – the Stars – have jumped in to check on prices. They’re all involved in varying degrees of sincerity. Miller will remain No. 1 until he is moved.
Seravalli shared more about how Miller is ready for a trade on Daily Faceoff Live:
“The Canucks are working on it. He’s ready to move. He’s signalled to them that he’s ready to go. Their play on the ice signals completely that change is necessary. Look, it’s been a difficult spot for them to be in. Everyone in the league recognizes the friction that’s there; they recognize his age and the term and money that’s left on his deal, and they see the drop off in his play, and they wonder, ‘Is this the right fit for us at this particular moment?’
“There’s been plenty of teams outside of the New York Rangers that have stepped up. There was some reporting yesterday that it’s Rangers or bust. I don’t think that’s the case. I think the Carolina Hurricanes have been working incredibly hard. I think they’re presented a few different potential opportunities for Vancouver. Obviously, [we] haven’t gotten it over the finish line, but I believe outside of New York, that no one has done more work on the Miller file than the Carolina Hurricanes.”
Seravalli speculated that by this time next week, Miller won’t be a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Not because they’ll get blown away by the return but because they need to do it so they don’t waste the season.
“I just think they have to pull the bandaid off. Don’t waste an MVP calibre season from Quinn Hughes because you couldn’t figure out a deal. It’s going to be painful. The return is not going to be great. They’ve already come to grips with it. Just do it.”
While all the talk is on JT Miller, there were multiple reports out there that Elias Pettersson’s name is not off the table with their disappointing offers for Miller.
Here’s what Chek TV’s Rick Dhaliwal had to say on Donnie & Dhali’s Friday morning.
“They’re taking calls on both. I was told a couple of days ago that they’re still listening on Pettersson. I don’t think he’s out of the woods. The goal is to trade one of these two guys. Canucks made that decision internally as a management group.
“Right now, I can’t say which one. Okay, sure, Miller’s the hot ticket. But Pettersson is still out there. Teams are still calling, and they could execute a Pettersson trade.”
Pettersson also found himself on Seravalli’s trade targets board but as the last player (30th). Here’s what Seravalli on Pettersson making the list:
Scoop: Pettersson seemingly should be marked ‘safe’ from a trade after the developments with Miller over the weekend. However, the longer the Miller saga drags on – and the more depressed the return is for the Canucks – they may be forced to pivot here and entertain conversations on ‘Petey’ again, which were not surprisingly much more robust. Stay tuned. It’s not impossible, not until Pettersson’s full ‘no-trade’ clause kicks in on July 1.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin will have until the March 7 trade deadline to decide what to do with his feuding stars. However, a trade looks to be on the horizon, and Canucks fans have to prepare for not liking the return.
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