Within the risk-averse NHL, the Rangers and Canucks determined it was higher to roll the cube than to just accept their new regular as playoff outsiders.
It is a breath of recent air.
Even figuring out that the J.T. Miller-Elias Pettersson saga had change into untenable — admitted as a lot by Canucks president Jim Rutherford — the bundle that the Canucks finally settled on carries lots of danger for the group.
It carries lots of danger for the Rangers as effectively.
Right here is the potential danger — and reward — of the Canucks and Rangers’ swap.
The Danger
The Canucks did one thing that groups should not do — traded one of the best participant, who additionally occurs to be a real high middle, and bought again a thriller field within the course of.
The Rangers additionally did one thing you are not presupposed to do — they acquired an getting old participant on the incorrect facet of 30 in the midst of a down season on a long-term contract. And so they gave up on a promising 25-year-old middle who has confirmed he could be a 20-goal scorer within the NHL. And at the same time as this transfer doubtlessly makes the group higher this season, it might not make them higher with sufficient time left to make a distinction.
In the meantime, that 25-year-old middle, Filip Chytil, hasn’t regarded like the identical participant since struggling a concussion that value him 72 regular-season video games and a part of the playoffs final 12 months. Vancouver is banking on him to seek out the a part of his sport the place accidents have been stolen over the previous two seasons.
The pink flags are waving. So, what provides?
The Reward
Rangers normal supervisor Chris Drury has been actively in search of to remake the core of his group because the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers eradicated New York in six video games final spring.
Because the season began, he is dealt defenseman Jacob Trouba and winger Kaapo Kakko, acquired and prolonged defenseman Will Borgen, and now traded Chytil in a deal for Miller.
Miller, a former 100-point participant who’s notoriously tough for top-line facilities to match up towards, might be the participant the Rangers had been lacking within the 2024 playoffs.
For the Canucks, their hand was compelled by the Miller-Pettersson feud spilling into the general public sphere. That stated, there may be an upside within the gamers they acquired. The true reward was the top-13 protected first-round choose the Rangers despatched — offering Vancouver with the ammunition they wanted to make a second trade Friday night time that introduced in pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Marcus Pettersson from Pittsburgh to bolster their back-end.
As of Feb. 1, two groups had been on the skin trying in, and neither thought of that acceptable.
