Rumblings of a massive trade between Rangers and Canucks.

The Vancouver Canucks have been without the services of veteran forward J.T. Miller Since the November 17th game against the Nashville Predators and it seems as though a rival team may be kicking tires on the possibility of prying Miller away from his current team.

A report from long time National Hockey League reporter Arthur Staple has indicated that New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury has already contacted the Canucks about possibly acquiring Miller as part of a midseason trade, an extremely interesting development to say the least.

From Staple:

A league source said the Rangers recently inquired with the Canucks about J.T. Miller, who is currently on an indefinite leave of absence. Miller was a 2011 first-round pick by the Rangers and has been coveted by Drury before — the Rangers were after Miller before the 2021-22 trade deadline, but wouldn’t include Braden Schneider in a deal. Miller then signed a seven-year extension worth $8-million a year, pulling him off the market.

Now that would be eyebrow raising all on its own but as we know there have been some pretty intense developments when it comes to the Rangers and potential trades over the course of the last several days. Rangers general manager Chris Drury very publicly put two of his top stars on the trading block earlier this month which would in theory free up space for the acquisition of Miller should he be able to move one of them off his roster.

Drury made it clear that both veteran Rangers forward Chris Kreider and Rangers captain Jacob Trouba were available via trade, and the intent there may very well have been the acquisition of a player like Miller.

Trouba is currently in the 6th year of a 7 year deal that carries an average annual valuer of $8 million per season while Kreider on the other hand is currently in year 5 of a 7 year deal with an average annual value and cap hit of $6.5 million. Miller himself is currently in just the 2nd year of a 7 year deal with an average annual value of $8 million per season.

I suspect that ideally Drury would prefer to move Trouba, who he attempted to trade to the Detroit Red Wings over the summer before Trouba himself blocked that potential trade, but that may be easier said than done. Trouba currently has a 15 team no trade list and has already demonstrated a willingness to use that clause in his contract to prevent the Rangers from trading him.

Kreider also has a 15 team no trade list in the final 3 years of his deal which would make trading him easier said than done as well.

That Drury even inquired about Miller suggests that the Rangers are in desperation mode when it comes to turning around the fortunes of their team this season, and you have to wonder just how big Drury is prepared to go to pull off a trade of this magnitude in the middle of an NHL season.