Insider Proposes Blockbuster Trade Between the Vancouver Canucks And the Toronto Maple Leafs
With the Vancouver Canucks needing to get rid of J.T. Miller, and Toronto needing that impact forward, one Insider thinks the two could make a blockbuster trade.
The saga of Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller has dominated sports headlines in Vancouver as the team has reached a critical boiling point where even President Jim Rutherford believes there's no hope for an amicable end.
But with all the turmoil, NHL Insiders Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne believe a solution lies within the Maple Leafs organization, namely Morgan Rielly.
Real Kyper And Bourne Propose J.T. Miller for Morgan Rielly Trade
It doesn't have the same oomph as the Mikko Rantanen trade but there is no denying that Miller would immediately make Toronto one of the top contenders in the East.
Nick Kypreos was blunt in his inquiry about whether Toronto should kick the tires on Miller:
Only half a million off on cap, relatively the same age, and they have the same amount on their deal. Does it make the Leafs better?
Morgan gets to go home. He'll say no to a lot of teams, but going home to BC could make them one of those teams...Vancouver needs to get J.T. Miller out of that locker room."
Miller is a proven scorer, a power play monster, wins faceoffs at an incredibly high clip (58.9% this season, 54.2% for his career) and offers the defensive stability Toronto needs from their forward corps.
Miller instantly becomes Toronto's number two center as John Tavares can patrol the third line and create a three-headed monster along with Auston Matthews. It allows Toronto to stretch their lineup a bit, and it solves a couple of important issues.
Firstly, it gives Toronto their premium trade splash they covet, and it gives them a proven scorer with term (Miller is signed until 2029-2030). But even beyond that, it gives them insurance if Mitch Marner decides to sign elsewhere.
Miller would be able to play on the second line with Bobby McMann and potentially Max Domi while William Nylander slides up to play with Matthews and Matthew Knies.
This season, Miller has nine goals and 25 assists in 39 games for the Canucks but has three straight 30+ goal seasons before this year.
Toronto already has a slew of defensemen they have a lot of praise for, and money committed to. Besides Rielly, there is Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson making $12.5M combined, and the team still has the likes of Simon Benoit, and Philippe Myers.
Rielly, while great, hasn't been his usual offensive self, and his defense has gone from serviceable to bad in a short amount of time, and Toronto can't afford to keep trying to give him defensive partners if he can't get it together.
His contract is also similar to Miller's, with only $500,000 separating their AAV (Rielly makes $7.5M, Miller makes $8M) and both men will be roughly the same age at the end of their deals.
This season, Rielly has struggled but has put together decent numbers. He has five goals and 17 assists in 50 games; being one of the only Maple Leafs players to stay healthy.
Vancouver is in need of not only getting rid of Miller, but adding some offense to their blueline other than Quinn Hughes.
Rielly gives them a veteran who can help Hughes grow, but he's best suited on the second pairing with Filip Hronek, or could work with Tyler Myers and let Hronek jump up.
Whatever the case, Toronto needs to make a deal and get the pieces they need. Vancouver needs to get rid of Miller ASAP.
Sounds like Brad Treliving has a long distance call to British Columbia in his near future.
