All news in the NHL is local. The league has been rocked by the blockbuster deal that sent Martin Necas, Taylor Hall, and Mikko Rantanen to new teams, but the New York Rangers may have been most affected. We’ve been watching the Rangers’ interest in Vancouver Canucks player J.T. Miller, and the Carolina Hurricanes deal might have changed the game for the former New York Ranger and native of East Palestine, Ohio.
Here is a brief synopsis for those who are unfamiliar with this. Teammates Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller have had a falling out. The Vancouver Canucks want to transfer one of the two players, and he has requested a trade. The market value of Miller is displaying unsatisfactory returns for the Canucks, who canceled an agreement with New York because they were unwilling to keep it. Miller’s worth keeps declining over time, which makes Vancouver reevaluate its position of wanting to maintain Pettersson. Will it help them right now? The Rangers may yet land their former forward.
Is it safe to presume that Carolina is no longer involved in this race? It would be absurd, but Eric Tulsky in Carolina has an amazing hockey mind. Money must be moved out of Boston, Dallas, and New Jersey. Without Mikko Rantanen, Colorado might not now contribute to this discussion. High-end scoring will be necessary, and it never hurts to have some center depth. But in this battle for the services of the irate New York forward, no one has exactly the same clout as the Rangers.
The Rangers can win this race to the forward and defeat their division rivals if they renegotiate a better deal that would require them to give up fewer assets but accept the full Miller contract. They could take advantage of Vancouver’s predicament and accomplish this for pennies on the dollar. Miller has a term on his contract, so it would be a longer-term decision. If you want Miller back in Manhattan, there are reasons to be hopeful, but we’ll have to wait and see.
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