Did Miller block a Vancouver Canucks trade to Colorado?

The Colorado Avalanche had major interest in adding J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks before he was traded to the New York Rangers.

It always felt like a matter of when, not if Miller was traded out of Vancouver, and it finally happened in late January, with the Canucks moving him, Erik Brannstrom, and Jackson Dorrington in exchange for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a first-round pick in 2025.

There was always a feeling that Miller wanted to join the Rangers, whom he played with from 2012 to 2017. It also gave him the opportunity to play alongside his lifelong best friend in Vincent Trocheck. To no surprise, the 31-year-old waived his no-movement clause once this deal presented itself.

According to a new report from Renaud Lavoie, an NHL insider with TVA, Miller had another deal presented to him that would have saw him go to the Avalanche. Speaking on the BPM Sports podcast, Lavoie revealed that the Avs were so confident they’d get him that they were comfortable trading Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes.

“They made the [Rantanen] trade because J.T. Miller was coming to Colorado. In their heads they were convinced that J.T. Miller would be traded from the Canucks to the Avalanche,” Renaud said (translated from French to English). “[But Miller] said ‘I don’t want to play in Denver.’ Is it because he wanted to play in the eastern United States? Good question, I don’t have all the details on why he didn’t want to play in Denver.”

Lavoie’s comments have garnered plenty of attention, as, if they are correct, it would have been a major backfire from the Avalanche’s perspective. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal has since commented on the matter himself, reporting that Miller never refused such a deal.

Miller refusing to go to Colorado is false.

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) March 1, 2025

From Miller’s perspective, getting to join the Rangers was likely a better outcome. Not only did he get to rejoin his former team and play alongside Trocheck, but it also allows him to be much closer to his family. The move has worked out well so far from his perspective, as he’s managed five goals and 10 points through nine games.

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