Does A J.T. Miller Trade Make Sense For New Jersey Devils With An Extension?
The Vancouver Canucks are reportedly looking for a blockbuster deal this offseason to find a new home for superstar J.T. Miller. It makes sense. He’s coming off the best season of his career, and he’s 29 years old. Would they love to re-sign him long term? We would think so, but it seems like the Canucks think he’s either destined for free agency, or they foresee a problem with their salary cap that could force them to trade him either now or during the season.
The New Jersey Devils would likely be interested in J.T. Miller the player, but like everyone else, it’s a little more complicated than that. He’s about to turn 30 years old, which just isn’t on the timeline they’re looking for. However, the Devils have said they really want to bring a veteran presence to the franchise. They need winners, and Miller is someone who would come in with 78 games of playoff experience.
Miller has grown into a superstar after he was traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Canucks. On the surface, most of us criticized the trade from the Canucks standpoint since they saved the Lightning from a cap crunch. Instead, it was a steal for the Canucks. He finally hit his prime, scoring 32 goals and putting up 99 points last season. This is obviously an output the Devils would want, but the ask is going to be astronomical.
The Canucks will want the second-overall pick. That seems to be the only thing that would move the needle for them. That’s a hard no right now. The Devils aren’t trading such a valuable asset for a player who is in the final year of his deal. The risk-reward there is insane.
Would the New Jersey Devils make a deal for J.T. Miller if he signs an extension?
Signing an extension would be a game changer for this deal. Getting Miller for 5-7 years instead of just one would mean everything to the trade. Still, it might be asking a lot to put such a valuable draft pick in the deal.
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The Devils would have to spend quite a bit of their cap space to get Miller locked in past this season. We’re talking about something in the $7-9 million range on a minimum five-year deal. He’s only making $5.25 million this season, and he would like to stop being “underpaid”. That likely means at some point, when age catches up with him, he will be overpaid. If that happens in four or five years, the Devils would be fine with that. However, if it happens in one or two, the Devils would hate that deal.
It’s still a hard sell here. The Devils are taking on all of the risks and giving up a premium asset to do it. There are a few deals that work for the second-overall pick, but Miller seems like something else they’d try with other assets. They’d be willing to give up premium assets, but losing the opportunity to take David Jiricek, Simon Nemec, or Juraj Slafkovsky is too big a price right now.