Friday, Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin had a busy day. First, he traded JT Miller, Erik Brannstrom, and Jackson Dorrington to the New York Rangers for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and the Rangers 2025 first round pick, that slides to 2026 if they are picking in the top 13. Then after losing 5-3 to the Stars Allvin traded Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, Melvin Fernstrom and the Rangers first round pick to the Penguins for Marcus Pettersson, and Drew O’Connor. JT Miller had 9 goals and 26 assists in 40 games this season for the Canucks. He is 31 years old and making $8 Million through the 2029-30 season. Erik Brannstrom had 3 goals and 5 assists in 28 games for the Canucks and 2 goals and 10 assists in 8 games for their AHL team, the Abbotsford Canucks this season. He is 25 years old and making 800 K for the rest of this season. Jackson Dorrington had 2 goals and 8 assists in 24 games in the NCAA for the University of Northeastern this season. He is 20 years old and was a 6th round pick in the 2022 NHL draft. Filip Chytil had 11 goals and 9 assists in 41 games for the Rangers this season. He is 25 years old and makes $4.44 Million through the 2026-27 season. Victor Mancini had a goal and 4 assists in 15 games for the Rangers and 3 goals and 7 assists in 23 games for the Rangers AHL team, the Hartford Wolf Pack. He is 22 years old and on his Entry Level Contract for this season and next. Danton Heinen had 6 goals and 12 assists in 51 games for the Canucks this season. He is 29 years old and making $2.25 Million this season and next. Vincent Desharnais had 3 assists in 34 games for the Canucks this season. He is 28 years old and making $2 Million this season and next. Melvin Fernstrom had 4 goals and 6 assists in 36 games for Orebro HK in the Swedish Hockey League and 11 goals and 7 assists in 12 games for their junior team. He is 18 years old and was a 3rd round pick in the most recent NHL draft. Marcus Pettersson scored 3 goals and 15 assists in 47 games for the Penguins this season. He is making $4.03 Million for the rest of this season. Drew O’Connor had 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 53 games. He is 26 years old and making $925 K for the rest of this season.

It has been made apparent that with the rift between Elias Pettersson and JT Miller one of them was going to be traded. Trading JT Miller is the right choice, as Pettersson is about 5 years younger and has such a high ceiling. While the tension between Miller and Pettersson might be the most public, Miller has had some problems in the past. This is the 3rd time Miller has been traded in his career. None of these trades happened with one year left on his contract, right before being an unrestricted free agent. This means there was less urgency to trade him, meaning he probably was not the best fit for his team. This does not mean it was because of locker room issues but it is possible. “Me and JT (Miller) had some talks about him being the sword a little too often, and he understood”, said former Canucks Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. Boudreau added “Sometimes, when (games are) not going as well as it should, (his frustration) sort of gets bottled up, and then all of a sudden, the explosion comes.” Based on Boudreau’s comments on Miller’s intense approach to hockey it is easier to see how his hot temper can become a problem to his teammates and the coaching staff. On top of Miller’s dispute with Pettersson, he has a no-move claws and an annual cap hit of $8 million that does not expire until he is 39 years old. Even with a lot of the leverage being on the Rangers side the Canucks got back several nice assets. These assets include Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a first-round pick which they later used to upgrade their defense. While Chytil has struggled to stay healthy in past seasons, when healthy he has been an effective goal scorer in the Rangers middle 6. He is on a reasonable contract for several years and does not turn 26 until after this season. Victor Mancini who is only 22 years old is unlikely to affect the Canucks this season but projects as a solid, physical bottom pair defenseman in the future. On top of Miller the Canucks shipped off Erik Brannstrom, and Jackson Dorrington. Even though Brannstrom has been on the NHL roster the majority of the season, when everyone is healthy is at best the 7th defenseman. Dorrington is unlikely to ever become a legit NHL player. 

The Canucks wasted no time using their extra cap space and first round pick to improve their defense. While Marcus Pettersson’s offensive numbers won’t wow you he is very effective. Pettersson is very reliable defensively and has been very good in a shutdown role for Pitsburgh over the past few seasons. He is also a solid skater and a good puck mover which comes in handy when transitioning from defense to offense. “Marcus is one heck of a defenseman”, said Canucks President of Hockey Operation, Jim Rutherford. He added, “We need an upgrade, and he’s going to give us that. I know that he will.” Rutherford has a history with Marcus Pettersson as he traded for him when he was the Penguins GM and signed him to his current contract. “I’m very happy with how that (trade) turned out”, said Rutherford. Given Rutherford’s positive past with Pettersson and the raise in the salary cap this off-season, an extension seems very possible to happen. They also acquired Drew O’Connor from the deal. While the points are not coming as easy to him as they did last season, O’Connor is a useful bottom 6 forward that is versatile, can penalty kill, and has good size. In this deal they did give up depth players, Vincent Desharnais, and Danton Heinen, who were both just signed by Vancouver this past off-season. Desharnais never found his footing on Vancouver and Heinen who is a decent bottom 6 forward with solid defensive attributes that can also provide some offense. Moving on from these two players makes a lot of sense as they combine for a cap hit of over $4 Million and are both under contract this and next season. This gives the team some extra cap flexibility for this off-season. They also gave up Melvin Fernstrom who is a decent prospect with good offensive attributes. He has some upside but is far from a guaranteed NHLer and is unlikely to make the team for at least a few years. 

Did the Canucks get better with these trades? On paper, probably not but considering the situation on hand I think they did good. They will miss Miller’s intense play, and offensive production but considering his history and age he was the right guy to trade. On the other hand, Chytil, Pettersson, and O’Connor are all nice additions to this team. Also, the extra cap space is nice giving them a better chance to extend new acquisition Marcus Pettersson and longtime Canuck, Brock Boeser who is also on an expiring contract.