NHL Rumors: Metropolitan Teams Interested In J.T. Miller

Contract extension talks have not been going great between J.T. Miller and the Vancouver Canucks. That being said, there appears to be interest from teams in the Metropolitan Division. Rob Simpson, reporter for the Canucks, brings up that there are at least two teams with trade interest in Miller. There were no specifics as to which teams that may be, but taking a look at rosters and which top two center spots are taken up on teams, we can narrow it down.

The first and most likely team should be the New York Islanders as they had shown interest in Nazem Kadri but Lou Lamoriello failed to do much this offseason. The team has Mathew Barzal, but a 1-2 punch of Barzal and Miller would be very good. The team has Brock Nelson who could shift over to the wing if necessary as well as Jean-Gabriel Pageau who is their third line center. There are too many veterans who earn too much money, so an NHL player would have to be headed back the other way. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Pageau or Nelson.

The second team who just recently lost their second line center is the Carolina Hurricanes. Vincent Trocheck signed a long-term deal with the New York Rangers in free agency and the Hurricanes are hoping Jesperi Kotkaniemi can possibly take over the vacant role on the second line. A better and more stable move would be adding Miller to get a 1-2 punch down the middle of Sebastian Aho and Miller. The Hurricanes have a number of good young pieces on their roster that could potentially be headed the other way to make a trade work.

Since Simpson mentioned that there are at least two teams interested in Miller, the Washington Capitals could be the other team. This is due to the severity of the Nicklas Backstrom injury. The Capitals were strong with Evgeni Kuznetsov and Backstrom as their first and second line centers, but will be hoping Dylan Strome can step in and perform well in Backstrom's absence. The Capitals have the pieces to make the trade and it would help extend their Stanley Cup window with a legitimate scorer and great player in Miller.

Though the Columbus Blue Jackets are in need of a number one center, they just don't have the cap space and have more than a couple of young players ready to grow into top players in a few years. As for the Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, they are set with centermen for a while. The Philadelphia Flyers have no cap space or space on their roster with Sean Couturier and Kevin Hayes, while the New Jersey Devils are set with young talent. It will be interesting to see Miller end up back in the east.