Erik Brannstrom

Trade discussions between the Rangers and Canucks regarding J.T. Miller have been off and on in recent weeks but a deal is now complete.  Per announcements from both teams, New York has acquired Miller along with defensemen Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington from Vancouver in exchange for center Filip Chytil, defenseman Victor Mancini, and a protected 2025 first-round pick.  The pick is protected in the top-13 this year and if it doesn’t convey this year, the Canucks will instead receive New York’s unprotected 2026 first-rounder.  Structuring the pick like that will encumber the Rangers from moving that 2026 selection in another trade later on.

Miller waived his no-move protection to facilitate the swap, ending what had been a rocky last several weeks for the 31-year-old.  There has been speculation of an internal rift between Miller and center Elias Pettersson, something that team president Jim Rutherford confirmed earlier this week. As a result, Vancouver has been engaging in trade discussions involving both players for quite some time now.

Miller returns to his first NHL team with the Rangers having drafted him 15th overall back in 2011.  He spent parts of six seasons with them, recording 172 points in 341 games before being moved to Tampa Bay in 2018.  He spent parts of two years with them before Vancouver acquired Miller in the 2019 offseason and since then, his career has taken off.

After only recording more than 60 points just once in his career before joining Vancouver, Miller surpassed the point per game mark in four of his first five seasons with them; the only time he didn’t reach at least 70 points was the shortened 2020-21 campaign.  Along the way, he signed a seven-year, $56MM contract that runs through the 2029-30 campaign, meaning New York will be adding another pricey contract to their books with an $8MM AAV; Daily Faceoff’s Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that Vancouver is not retaining salary on Miller’s contract.

But things haven’t gone quite so well for Miller this season.  His offensive numbers – though still respectable – are down as he has nine goals and 26 assists in 40 games so far.  He has just three tallies in his last 24 outings, however, and two of those came in one game.  That drop in performance certainly didn’t help his trade value which likely contributed to the delay in getting this done.

Even with the drop-off in performance this year, Miller will still represent a sizable upgrade on Chytil in terms of role and production.  He’ll give them a third veteran presence down the middle behind Mika Zibanejad, a duo that will be around for a while as Zibanejad is also inked through the 2029-30 campaign.  Vincent Trocheck is also in the mix, signed through the 2028-29 season so they now have plenty of stability at that position for the foreseeable future.

As for the other pieces heading to New York, Brannstrom was once a highly-touted prospect after being a first-round pick for Vegas back in 2017.  However, his offensive game – his calling card growing up – hasn’t quite materialized in the pros and he has bounced around since then; this will be his third team of the season after spending training camp with Colorado before being moved to Vancouver.  Brannstrom has eight points in 28 NHL games this year but cleared waivers earlier this month and had been with AHL Abbotsford before the swap.  The 25-year-old has a $900K cap hit (which wouldn’t count against the cap if he remains in the minors for New York) and will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights this summer.

Dorrington, meanwhile, was a sixth-round pick by Vancouver in 2022, going 176th overall.  He has spent the past three seasons at Northeastern University and has 10 points in 23 games for the Huskies in 2024-25.  Dorrington will have one year of college eligibility remaining after this season so he could be a near-term addition to New York’s farm system.

Chytil is the headliner of the swap for the Canucks in terms of the players they’re getting back.  The 25-year-old was originally expected to be part of New York’s long-term plans down the middle after they made him the 21st pick in 2017.  However, Chytil has dealt with considerable concussion issues throughout his career which has caused him to miss significant time, including 72 games just last season.

However, Chytil isn’t too far removed from his best offensive season when he collected 22 goals and 23 assists in 72 games back in 2022-23, solid second-line production.  He’s not too far off that pace this year either as he has 11 goals and nine helpers through 41 appearances.  He’s averaging less than 15 minutes a game this season but if he lands on the second line behind Pettersson, it’s possible that Chytil could be in line for a bit of a bigger role with his new team.  For his career, he has 164 points in 378 games.

Vancouver will be taking on a multi-year commitment with Chytil as well although he isn’t signed quite as long as Miller.  He has a $4.4375MM cap charge on his contract through the 2026-27 season and will be an unrestricted free agent at its expiration.  Accordingly, a big portion of this trade for the Canucks will be some increased salary cap flexibility moving forward.

As for Mancini, the 22-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level contract after wrapping up his college career last season.  He has played in 15 games with the Rangers this year, picking up a goal and four assists in a little over 15 minutes a night before being sent back to AHL Hartford last month to get more playing time.  In 23 games with the Wolf Pack, he has three goals and seven assists.  If he isn’t recalled directly to Vancouver, Mancini stands to be one of their top recall options whenever injuries arise.

From a salary cap perspective, the Rangers still have ample cap space to work with as PuckPedia puts them with a little over $3.5MM in projected cap room thanks to their early-season trade of Jacob Trouba.  Meanwhile, PuckPedia pegs Vancouver with a little less than $2.7MM in space which gives them some breathing room to try to bank some extra flexibility between now and the trade deadline to try to add to their roster and turn around their recent struggles.

For the production and role that Miller has had for most of his time with Vancouver, this return is on the low side but the internal rift clearly became too much, resulting in the Canucks taking a below-market return.  Nonetheless, if Chytil can do well with his new team and the Canucks properly use their extra draft, prospect, and cap capital, they could still come out of this in decent shape.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported that talks between the two sides about Miller were intensifying and was first with Brannstrom and Dorrington’s inclusions.  TSN’s Farhan Lalji originally reported Chytil being in the swap.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post was first with the details on the pick protection.

Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.