"If [trying to sign him] doesn't work, we have to get the best return we can for him," said Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford on Friday during a segment of the CHEK television's Donnie & Dhali - The Team. "But I think when the impatience should come on J.T. Miller is when we get closer to the trade deadline, and if we don't have him signed at that point, making sure that we get a return for him. But I don't see where there's any urgency until we get to the trade deadline." Miller has one more season left on his current contract, which has an average annual value of $5.25 million, and he is looking for a big pay increase. 

Miller was outstanding last season, finishing ninth in NHL scoring with 99 points, by far a career-year for the 29-year-old. Miller has one more season remaining on his current contract which will pay him $4.5 million with a cap hit of $5.25 million. The Canucks and Miller are not close on a new contract and it was thought that Vancouver would try and deal him, rather than losing him for nothing after the 2022-23 season. "Well, I didn't get any calls today," Canucks GM Patrik Allvin said. "Hey, he was our best player last year. I think (president of hockey operations) Jim [Rutherford] mentioned there has been teams kicking tires, checking in. It hasn't gone much further than that. We're really excited to have J.T. here for another year. I believe he's excited and ready to come back, and who knows, anything could happen over the next couple of weeks, months, but we're happy to have him back." Stay tuned.

Vancouver expected to know by the NHL Draft whether or not the team would be able to re-sign Miller to a long-term contract extension. It will be interesting to see if Bartlett's update on his client's contract situation leads to a trade. Miller has one more season left on current his deal and he is eligible to sign an extension with the Canucks on July 13. However, reports have indicated that the two sides remain far apart in their discussions. However, there probably isn't a need to rush a trade and Miller could still start the year with the Canucks.  

The Capitals are facing the prospect of Nicklas Backstrom not being available at all in 2022-23 after he had hip resurfacing surgery, so naturally Washington would like to get a forward who could fill that void. Miller would be a great option, but the Canucks might not want to trade him at this time. Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said that the team's preference is to re-sign Miller. The situation with him would change if the Canucks come to the conclusion that re-signing him isn't going to happen, but until then any team hoping to trade for him will have to wait.