The Vancouver Canucks loss could be a major gain for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The reported spat between Canucks’ stars J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson has gotten to the point where the Canucks are supposedly willing to listen to trade offers on either star.
According to insider Elliotte Friedman, the time to make a trade is this season as Pettersson has a full no-movement clause kicking in next summer. Conversely, Miller has a full no-movement clause in place at the moment, making a Miller trade much harder.
However, reports seem to indicate that the Canucks are much more willing to trade J.T. Miller than Elias Petterson.
That’s where the Toronto Maple Leafs can swoop in and kill two birds with one stone. A Canucks-Leafs trade involving J.T. Miller solves the drama in Vancouver while giving the Leafs the centre they’ve been reportedly looking for.
Unfortunately, we can’t say that such a deal would be a win-win for both teams. Miller’s no-movement clause could become a major sticking point. So, assuming Miller agrees to a deal to come to Toronto, the Leafs can then take advantage of that situation to make a lower-than-expected offer.
But if Vancouver has no choice, they may have to take the deal. Otherwise, the Canucks may not be able to solve the ongoing drama.
Now, how likely is a Canucks-Leafs deal? In my estimation, the Leafs should at least kicked the tires on Miller. The asking price might be high now. But with Vancouver in a seeming state of flux, the price will eventually have to come down.
That’s where the Leafs can gain from the Canucks’ loss.
Making sense of a J.T. Miller trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs
I know there’s one thing everyone will quickly point out: Miller’s $8.5 million cap hit.
There are several options here: get some salary retained, include Domi + OEL in any trade, look to move out guys like Kampf and combine that with some salary retention, or even see if Morgan Rielly would waive his no-movement clause to play at home.
There is also the option of placing Matthews on the LTIR and getting out of his cap hit until the playoffs. Matthews returned to the lineup last night, so this is not an option right now, but he is evidently dealing with something serious and could plausably be re-injured. Should that happen, perhaps the LTIR option will be back on the table.
Adding Miller (with a healthy Matthews) gives the Leafs three top-line centres, allowing Craig Berube to slide one of them to the third line making the Leafs a really hard team to play against.
As you can see, bringing Miller into the fold could be the move that catapults the Toronto Maple Leafs over the top.
It’s a unique opportunity that could have J.T. Miller earmarked for greatness with the Toronto Maple Leafs.