The asking price for J.T. Miller revealed; The feisty winger checks a lot of boxes for the Leafs
Now that we are into February, we have entered the home stretch until the NHL's March 21st trade deadline, which is now just 7 weeks away. It's one of the most exciting times if you're a hockey fan, because it means there are moves coming and one of the big pieces that is expected to move this year is Vancouver Canucks winger J.T. Miller.
We haven't heard much in terms of what the Canucks' asking price on Miller might look like, but thanks to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and TSN, we now have a better idea of the haul that the Canucks are looking for in exchange for one of the absolute best players on their roster.
Per LeBrun on Thursday's edition of Insider Trading, the Canucks are looking to restock the cupboards with some good young prospects. They are believed to be looking for at least 3 or 4 assets, with prospects being the preference rather than draft picks.
"If a team steps up with three to four prospects, three to four assets, it's something they've probably got to look at," LeBrun said on the program.
Miller, 28, carries a $5.25M cap hit through this season and next, so whichever team acquires him is essentially getting two kicks at the can here. Obviously the New York Rangers have had reported interest, but should the Leafs get involved here as well? Miller certainly fits their needs, and we can run down the list here really quicky:
Miller is a 6'1, 218-pound left winger who plays a physical game. He can shoot, he can pass, he can score, he has shown his ability to produce at a high rate in the playoffs, he's a plus player on a bad team this season, he can play with elite talent and he has term remaining on his contract. If that's not the perfect player for Kyle Dubas and his Leafs, I don't know who is.
The Leafs are looking to contend now, so prospects will be of little value to them right now. If the Leafs were to offer a package that consisted of Rodion Amirov, Roni Hirvonen, Mac Hollowell and Alex Kerfoot, is that enough to get a deal done? Would swapping Amirov for Nicholas Robertson be more enticing to the Canucks? Would Vancouver be willing to swap one of the prospects for our first round pick this season or next?
To this point, I haven't seen anything from a credible source linking Miller to the Leafs, but he certainly checks a lot of boxes for the Buds and, as we've seen in the past, GM Kyle Dubas often likes to pull off deals that nobody saw coming, much like he did with the Jake Muzzin deal and the Jack Campbell deals. He also likes to do deals in advance of the deadline, so the next few weeks should be interesting.
Additional credit to: HouseOfHockey.net
