On November 19th one of the Vancouver Canucks more impactful players, JT Miller, stepped away from the game for a personal leave of absence. Since then one particular NHL team has sparked interest in the absent player.
Currently, there is no timeline for when JT Miller will lace up the skates again for the Canucks, but The Athletic’s Arthur Staple revealed the New York Rangers may be interested in the Canucks forward.
“A league source said the Rangers recently inquired with the Canucks about J.T. Miller, who is currently on an indefinite leave of absence,” Staple wrote.
“Miller was a 2011 first-round pick by the Rangers and has been coveted by Drury before — the Rangers were after Miller before the 2021-22 trade deadline, but wouldn’t include Braden Schneider in a deal. Miller then signed a seven-year extension worth $8-million a year, pulling him off the market.”
Ironically, Miller was originally the first-round pick of the Rangers in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, trading him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018 alongside Ryan McDonagh for a first-round draft pick in 2018, a conditional second-round pick in 2019, and a handful of players. A year later the Lightning moved him again, trading him to the Canucks.
Canucks Army‘s Tyson Cole mentioned how the Rangers have been looking to “shake up their lineup” following an inconsistent start to the 2024-25 season creating opportunities to move players such as Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba.
Cole also mentions Rick Dhaliwal’s comments on Friday’s episode of Donnie & Dhali The Team, where Dhaliwal revealed more than just the Rangers have called the Canucks in regard to Miller.
“This is teams checking in,” Dhaliwal emphasized.
“There’s no rule against calling Vancouver. Teams kick tires on players all the time. What did the Rangers announce last week? They want to make a big shake-up; they’re not happy. So, is it a shock? No. The Rangers [are] trying to shake up their hockey club. They’re not happy. So that makes sense.canuc“This is not Vancouver. I know the Canucks are giving JT all the time and space he needs. This is teams calling Vancouver. This isn’t Vancouver calling teams. And I want to make that very clear. Why the hell would the Canucks call teams when this poor guy is going through what he’s going through [with] this reset, both mental and physical. So this is not Vancouver.”
Dhaliwal mentions that Vancouver is not the team initiating the calls to possibly look to trade Miller, but that other teams are simply showing interest if the forward were to become available.
https://twitter.com/DonnieandDhali/status/1862576845532930524
The Canucks currently hold a record of 13-7-3 with 29 points, one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, but two points behind the second place team in the Pacific Division the Los Angeles Kings.
Before Miller’s leave from the team he recorded six goals and 16 points throughout 17 games played.
Wild acquire David Jiricek from Blue Jackets
David Jiricek has finally found a new team to call home.
The Minnesota Wild officially acquired the defenceman on Saturday, sending Daemon Hunt, a 2025 first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick, a 2026 third and fourth-round pick, to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 21-year-old has been a hot topic of trade discussions over the past several weeks after revealing he felt dissatisfied with his amount of time on ice with the Blue Jackets. The 2022 sixth-overall pick had been playing just over 14 minutes throughout 43 games last season, and this season he’s been playing an average of just over 11 minutes a game before being sent to the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate the Cleveland Monsters.
In the case of the Blue Jackets, they will receive a depth defenceman in Hunt and the Wild’s first-round selection in the 2025 draft.
With Jirichek now dawning the Wild’s colours he’ll be playing alongside depth defenceman Brock Fabre, Jared Spurgeon and additionally Jonas Brodin.
Jirichek is currently in his second year of his three-year entry level contract carrying an average annual value of $918,333. He has played six games so far this season with the Blue Jackets collecting one point, but in four AHL games he three points.
It will be interesting to how both the Wild and Blue Jackets adjust with new players slotted in on their lineups.
Victor Hedman becomes new leader for all-time assists with Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman made headlines on Saturday night after passing Martin St. Louis to officially become the organization’s new leader for all-time assists.
Hedman achieved the feat after registering an assist on Jake Guentzel’s goal in the third period to aid in the Lightning’s 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The assist was his 17th of the season and 589th of his career. He collected one more assist on Cam Atkinson’s goal nearing the end of the contest to further boost his numbers.
“Obviously, you didn’t expect going into this league to have a record like that,” Hedman said, “but I’m going to enjoy it for a few weeks or months before Kuch (Nikita Kucherov) passes me. So, hopefully, I can keep feeding him the puck at the same time. Joking aside, to have a milestone like that is pretty huge.”
Former Tampa Bay captain and 2004 Stanley Cup Champion Martin St. Louis previously held the top spot recording 588 assists throughout 13 seasons with the Lightning.
Hedman has been making his way up on the all-time assists leaderboard throughout the season, passing former teammate Steven Stamkos at 582 a number he collected throughout 1,082 appearances.
Drafted second overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Hedman has spent all 16 seasons of his career dawning Lightning colours. His accomplishments have pilled up throughout the year starting back in 2017-18 with a James Noris Memorial Trophy win. During the 2019-20 campaign Hedman earned his first Stanley Cup Championship and later becoming the recipient of the 2019-20 Conn Smythe Trophy. He earned his second Stanley Cup the following season when the Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars in six games.
The start of the 2024-25 campaign has been nothing short of success for the defenceman. Throughout 23 games so far this season, he has recorded four goals and 22 points. The Lightning are next set to take on the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
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