There are two headlines that grow larger by day in the hockey world.
Whether it's fact or fiction, the ongoing reported tension between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson on the Vancouver Canucks will have to be rectified one way or another.
The once-Stanley Cup contending New York Rangers continue to fall having posted a 5-16-0 record since Nov. 20. There are several pieces to that roster that may have reached a breaking point in New York.
So where do these two narratives find each other? J.T. Miller.
Miller, who was drafted in the first round by the Rangers in 2011, spent parts of his first six NHL seasons in New York and as reported by Sportsnet hockey analyst Nick Kypreos, if Miller were to OK a trade out of British Columbia, a reunion on Broadway would be the exception.
"I get the impression that J.T. Miller doesn't want to go anywhere, and he's got a no-move (clause)," Kypreos said on the "Real Kyper & Bourne" show on Thursday. "If this guy needs to green light (a trade), I do believe there's one spot he would maybe lift his no-move and that would be the New York Rangers."
Even if there is nothing whatsoever to the rumored Miller-Pettersson rift, the tax that the locker room is enduring because of its buzz will force Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin to value the environment of his team over the star power.
"The fact that it's still a thing has begun to spill over elsewhere into the organization," NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said on The FAN Hockey Show on Thursday. "It's clearly bothering [coach Rick] Tocchet and [team captain Quinn] Hughes.
"Vancouver is open to listening [to trade offers] on both players and will continue to do so."
Miller, 31, is playing the second year of a seven-year contract extension. The Rangers, who own two percent chance of making the playoffs with more than half of the season left, have the right core pieces. General manager Chris Drury would likely be looking to cut his losses this season and retool the roster.
Miller would be the white whale needed to achieve that task.
As mentioned by ESPNB's Emily Kaplan on Saturday's broadcast of the Rangers against the Washington Capitals, the Rangers front office is looking for more "meat and potatoes" in their room.
Their roster construction is perceived by those around the league as too "vanilla" and it's the primary reason the Rangers were bounced against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final last season.
Miller provides the hard-nosed play that is designed for playoff success but offers the premiere offensive production to replace — and improve — current underperforming top-six Rangers forwards.
He's hot off his first 100-plus point season and has strung three consecutive 30-goal campaigns together. When he was just beginning to blossom into this profile he became regarded around the league, then-New York Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton threw him in as a sweetener to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2019 trade deadline.
Kypreos offered the possibility of the Rangers trading first-line center Mika Zibanejad and defenseman K'Andre Miller to the Canucks in exchange for Miller.
Read more: Former NHL Player Believes Rangers Problems are More 'On the Ice, Than Off'
Zibanejad and K'Andre have both taken steps toward regression in New York this season as the offensive consistency for Zibanejad looks to have run its due and Miller is making too many defensive errors.
Some new life for both players could revive their struggles.
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