The much-anticipated J.T. Miller trade finally went down on Friday afternoon. The Canucks shipped Miller, Erik Brannstrom, and Jackson Dorrington to the Rangers for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a top-13 protected 2025 first-round pick.

Was the return underwhelming for the Canucks? Absolutely. That shouldn't be a surprise, though. Miller is on the wrong side of 30, he carries a $8 million cap hit for five more seasons after this one, and teams knew that the Canucks were trying to trade him because of the very public issues with Elias Pettersson, with only a limited number of teams making serious inquiries. All of these factors meant that interested teams did not have to offer a wealth of assets to acquire him. That's how the trade market works.

As someone who watches the Canucks more than any other team, the increasing coverage of the Miller/Pettersson saga combined with the team's declining results meant that something had to give. The Canucks on paper are a weaker team now than they were before the trade, which isn't a good thing when they are competing for a playoff spot with Calgary, who appeared to upgrade in their recent trade with Philadelphia. Yet now that this trade has finally been completed, the Canucks can hopefully move on and focus on the on-ice results. "Addition by subtraction" is a phrase I've seen often to describe the Canucks' new situation, especially if the dressing room is a happier place without Miller.

As for the Rangers, this is a win-now move focused on pushing toward a playoff spot. Having Miller, Mika Zibanejad, and Vincent Trocheck taking up $22 million in cap space while all over 30 is risky long-term. Trocheck's contract expires in 2029, while Miller's and Zibanejad's contracts both expire in 2030. I think at least one of these contracts could be bought out before they are set to expire.

For more on the Miller trade, I wrote the Fantasy Take.  

The Canucks weren't done on Friday night! Following the game, they sent the first-round pick they acquired from the Rangers along with Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, and Melvin Fernstrom to Pittsburgh for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor. Pettersson (the third Pettersson in the Canucks organization and the first one not named Elias) is the key piece for the Canucks, as he fills a much-needed spot as a top-4 defenseman. The quality of the Canucks' defense plummets significantly after Hughes and Filip Hronek, and Pettersson has averaged over 20 minutes per game for each of the last three seasons. Yet for this return to make sense, the Canucks will need to sign Pettersson before July 1, as he is set to become a UFA. Overall, this trade doesn't have major fantasy implications, but it certainly has some real-life ones.

Here’s a summary of the Canucks' trades on Friday. As a long-time fan of the team, I'm not sure how I feel about this. Even while dropping Miller, the Canucks are still focused on the playoffs this season.

Tonight, the Vancouver Canucks…

Acquired:
Filip Chytil
Marcus Pettersson
Drew O'Connor
Victor Mancini

Traded:
J.T. Miller
Danton Heinen
Vincent Desharnais
Melvin Fernström
Erik Brannstrom
Jackson Dorrington

How are Canucks fans feeling about the team going forward? 🤔⬇️

— BarDown (@BarDown) February 1, 2025

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Since news of the Miller trade surfaced from the hockey insiders about an hour before puck drop, the Canucks were without both Miller and Chytil for Friday's game in Dallas. With a gap at the center position, the Canucks' three-game winning streak came to an end, losing 5-3 to Dallas.  

Quinn Hughes briefly left Friday's game with some kind of lower-body issue. Although Hughes returned to the game, he appeared to be in pain as he was skating and also on the bench afterward. The Canucks next play on Sunday against Detroit, so keep an eye on his status if you roster him.

Jake DeBrusk scored his first goal in 12 games on Friday. He has been a very streaky scorer in his first season in Vancouver, scoring 11 goals over a span of 10 games in late November/early December. Prior to that, DeBrusk was held without a goal in his first nine games as a Canuck. With all of that, DeBrusk is still only two goals shy of 20 goals.

For the Stars, Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz both finished with two goals and an assist. The Robertson-Hintz duo hasn't been as dynamic this season as it has been in past seasons. Yet Robertson is making up for a slow start with 15 points over his last 10 games, while Hintz has eight points over his last four games.

As expected, Thomas Harley was on the Stars' top power play with Miro Heiskanen out. Harley registered an assist in 24:17 of icetime.

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Logan Cooley is expected to be out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. He will be re-evaluated after the 4 Nations Face-Off. In Cooley's place, Alex Kerfoot moved up to Utah's top line with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. Kerfoot scored a goal, breaking an 11-game point drought, while logging 16:48 of icetime. Although he has shown very little fantasy value this season, Kerfoot could be worth taking a flier on if he can take advantage of the opportunity.

The Utahns (Hockey Club? Mammoth? Outlaws?) took a 2-0 lead against Columbus with goals from Nick Schmaltz and Kerfoot, but the Blue Jackets pulled off a come-from-behind 3-2 overtime win. With the OT game-winner and an assist, Zach Werenski is tied in points with Cale Makar (57). Both are two points behind Quinn Hughes for the scoring lead among defensemen.

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After he was waived by St. Louis earlier this week, Brandon Saad has quickly resurfaced, signing a one-year contract (for the remainder of the season) with the Vegas Golden Knights worth $1.5 million. Although Saad has scored seven goals this season, he has also been held without a goal in 40 of 43 games this season. Since Saad had registered just 15 points in 43 games on a $4.5 million cap hit, the Blues thought that his roster spot and cap space would be better used elsewhere. Fantasy leaguers can ignore this signing unless Saad finds the right linemates in Vegas and goes on a run. 

The Saad-less Blues were looking sad on Friday, losing 5-0 to Colorado. Mackenzie Blackwood turned aside 19 shots to pick up his first shutout as a member of the Avalanche. He also picked up his first quality start in six games, which was preceded by 14 quality starts in 16 games. Overall, Blackwood has provided stability in the Colorado net.

Jonathan Drouin led the way offensively for the Avalanche, scoring two goals while adding an assist. One of the goals and the assist were with the man advantage.

In his fourth game with the Avalanche, Martin Necas scored his first goal with his new team. He has five points over his last three games. I think Necas has the potential for big things on a line with Nathan MacKinnon.

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The Islanders seem to be collecting offensive-minded defensemen, claiming Adam Boqvist off waivers from Florida. Although he was given a run on the top power play in Florida earlier this season, Boqvist has just six points in 18 games. Three of those points were on the power play. The Islanders are currently short on right-shot d-men, as both Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock are on injured reserve. As far as their other recently acquired defensemen, Tony DeAngelo is also right shot, although Scott Perunovich is left shot.

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In the Sabres' 4-3 win over Nashville, Jiri Kulich scored a pair of goals. That gives Kulich four goals and seven points with a plus-6 over his last five games. Kulich is benefitting from playing on a line with Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka at the moment. Dating back to December 1, Kulich's nine goals leads all rookies, while only Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov have more goals among rookies than Kulich (11). Not yet 21 years old, Kulich already looks like an NHL player. He's only 2 percent rostered in Yahoo and 31 percent rostered in Fantrax, so there appears to be a real opportunity here.

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Some streaks that I didn't get to from the late games on Thursday:

With a goal on Thursday, Tomas Hertl has goals in three consecutive games and an 11-game point streak. Over those 11 games, Hertl has nine goals and 15 points. That's the longest active point streak in the NHL right now. Keep track of point streaks on Frozen Tools at the Active Point Streak page.  

Chandler Stephenson picked up a goal, two assists, and a plus-4 against the Sharks on Thursday. Since the calendar turned to 2025, Stephenson has been a point-per-game scorer (15 points in 15 games). The Kraken bet big on him in the offseason, and he's finally starting to deliver.

Brandon Montour's two goals on Thursday broke a 20-game goal drought. He now has multiple points in back-to-back games after being held without a point in his previous nine games.

Eeli Tolvanen now has goals in four consecutive games. His scoring production has been hit or miss this season, but he has been highly effective in bangers leagues. Tolvanen leads Seattle with 160 hits.

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