No trade? J.T. Miller remains with Canucks after first day of NHL Draft

Miller time is still on for the Vancouver Canucks after potentially turning down a blockbuster trade.

With no draft day trade after the completion of the first round, the Canucks are still holding onto forward J.T. Miller for now.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman broke the news of the Canucks talking in advance of the draft with the Islanders, potentially about a Miller trade.

“As we wait for the first pick: not sure of all the particulars, but believe something is up with VAN and NYI,” Friedman tweeted prior to the Canadiens taking Juraj Slafkovsky at first overall.

Miller is coming off a career year where he put up 32 goals and 67 assists for a total of a team-high 99 points. Miller’s season was the seventh-highest scoring season all time by a Canucks player, and was 13 points off of Henrik Sedin’s Hart Trophy winning campaign in 2009-10.

The 29-year-old Miller currently has one year remaining on his contract, with a cap hit of $5.25 million.

At the 2019 NHL draft, Miller was initially acquired from Tampa Bay as part of a package for a 2020 first-round pick, 2019 third-round pick, and goalie Marek Mazanec, who hadn’t played an NHL game since 2016-17.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reported yesterday that there was “strong interest” league-wide in trading for Miller.

To quote the late, great, Gord Downie, let’s just see what tomorrow brings.

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