Trade Three
This one has been bouncing around western Canada a fair bit as of late. The Devils and Canucks were two teams that were constantly Miller is coming off a massive season in which he scored 32 times and had 99 points. That would have been a record-breaking total for the Devils. It would beat out every Devils superstar of years past including Taylor Hall’s MVP season, Ilya Kovalchuk’s best season in red, and Patrik Elias‘ legendary 2001 season.
He is also a guy who plays with heart and is great on both sides of the rink. While this is a trade being proposed, this would be a bad deal for the Devils and they shouldn’t do it.
So why is that?
The first reason is age. At 29 years old, he is not going to be a long-term guy for this team despite being good now. He will be a strong player for a few years for sure, but other strong players have fallen off in the early 30s and the Devils don’t need to look far to see examples. Kyle Palmieri was a stud but the second he was moved he could barely stay in the lineup for the Islanders, every goalie this team adds has injury issues, and P.K. Subban is not an old man but he is a shadow of the All-Star we were used to seeing.
Currently, Miller is making $5.25 million and the contract is up after next season. He will be a UFA and can either walk away or will probably be asking for a massive raise, one this team shouldn’t be giving. It will be his big payday and probably his last shot at it, so whoever signs him will be looking at 6-8 years and probably $8 million which will be absurd when he is 32 and just a nightmare once he surpasses 35 years old.
The trade would help the team immediately but is a very short-sighted move and most fans can see it clearly so we just need to hope management doesn’t bite on this.