Canuck JT Miller’s time could be at stake amid wild interest

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There is a convenient narrative that goes around when the Vancouver Canucks are in free fall.

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He usually involves Brock Boeser as a bargaining chip in consideration of his expiring contract, and what the winger might order in a trade with a Stanley Cup playoff contender looking to prepare for that arduous adventure.

And with the Minnesota Wild leading the NL Central with an 11-6-1 record after 18 games, it’s natural to assume that the prospect of bringing Boeser home is one of the club’s priorities. After all, he could fill a pressing need in the top six, grew up in Burnsville, Minnesota, has close ties to his family, and owns a summer home located on a Minnesota lake.

However, Boeser is not in the commercial sights. It’s because of what JT Miller the Wild has called.

The wolves are always at the door to feel that an injured club may be willing to part ways with a front-line player, if the return is correct. And with the hockey operations department in crisis as the property ponders its next move, an exchange could be a logical means of sending a message.

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In a Miller acquisition, the Wild would likely hang 25-year-old winger Kevin Fiala, who has had ample opportunity to score but has just three goals despite 58 shots, which speaks to his minuscule 5.1 shooting percentage. . He is also in the final year of a contract that carries a salary cap of $ 5.1 million.

Fiala was flying in the 2020 postseason bubble in Edmonton, where the 11th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft was a force in a four-game elimination against the Canucks in the qualifying round.

He scored three goals in the first two games of the series and his two late goals turned a sure victory in a 4-3 final in the second game of that 2020 best-of-five series. He also beat Jacob Markstrom with two memorable goals. in the regular season and scored in nine of the Wild’s last 11 games.

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Fiala may only need a change of scenery because he has reached the 20 goal mark three times. However, if the Canucks are contemplating parting ways with Miller, their high-risk, high-reward, loud and proud leading scorer with another year left on his contract with a $ 5.25 million salary-cap bargain. The Wild would have to sweeten the deal.

Winger Jordan Greenway, 24, would provide thickness and sand at 6-foot-6, 230-pounds and is playing second row with 2019 first-round pick Matthew Boldy, who is rehabbing a broken ankle. But imagining Elias Pettersson with that great extreme to create time and space is a reach.

Size is a roster issue because, despite the speed and creativity of Conor Garland and Nils Hoglander, there is not much recoil. Greenway is best suited to a fourth-line role and has been successful in a closing capacity with Joel Eriksson-Ek and Marcus Foligno.

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Greenway has an expiring contract with a salary cap of $ 2.1 million and that’s rich for a Canucks club that pays unrestricted free agent Tyler Motte $ 1,225 million and Juho Lammikko just $ 750,000 for his expiring contract. . And with prospect Will Lockwood waiting behind the scenes, Greenway may not fit in here.

A logical question for the Canucks in any business setting would be a high draft pick. They don’t have a 2022 second round. He surrendered to the Arizona Coyotes in the offseason multi-play trade, but is that a sufficient return for Miller?

The Wild will not part with Boldy. The 12th overall pick in 2019 is projected as a winger in the top six and was pulled from injury reserve last week to improve his game in the minors, helping make Fiala and Greenway expendable.

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Is Fiala and a second-round pick really enough for Miller? Would it take another choice to complete it? Or is it just wild fishing and the hope of landing a player who can help them get out of a tough division and make some noise in the playoffs? Come and hear Miller and what playoff team wouldn’t want a guy who had 18 points (6-12) on 17 playoff bubble points in 2020?

NEXT GAME

Wednesday

Vancouver Canucks in Pittsburgh Penguins

4 p.m. Pacific Time, Arena from PPG Paints. TV: Sportsnet Pacific. Radio: AM 650.

When the Canucks were already derailed last February, Miller gave this passionate delivery:

“When you do the same things and you keep making the same mistakes, giving up clues and chasing the game, it’s exhausting. It’s emotionally draining and frustrating and I try to find a balance between breaking a stick and throwing F-bombs.

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“Obviously, you don’t want to do that. But I play to the limit and I always have and that makes me the best version of myself as a player. “

Do the Canucks want to give that up?

If anything, this speaks to what the league knows. The Canucks are in bad shape. It would take a ridiculous streak of 35–20-8 just to hit the 92-point plateau and get into the postseason. A trade is not a panacea, but it would get everyone’s attention, in the room and in hockey operations.

If not an exchange, then what? Who stays, who goes?

OVERTIME – Travis Hamonic has been assigned to Abbotsford, but is expected to join the NHL Canucks at some point during their five-game road trip. He is fully vaccinated, but the NHL mandate is 14 days after a second dose for elimination.

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