.png)
![‘Companion’ Ending Breakdown: Director Drew Hancock Tells All About the Film’s Showdown and Potential Sequel: ‘That’s the Future I Want for [Spoiler]’](https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MCDCOMP_WB028.jpg?#)
‘The best option’: Canucks’ Allvin sees Miller trade as a matter of team culture
After orchestrating one of the most impactful mid-season transaction days in franchise history, Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said Saturday that he never viewed his roster decision as a choice between J.T. Miller or Elias Pettersson. He viewed it a matter of team culture, involving everyone on the team.
VANCOUVER — After orchestrating one of the most impactful mid-season transaction days in franchise history, Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said Saturday that he never viewed his roster decision as a choice between J.T. Miller or Elias Pettersson.
He viewed it a matter of team culture, involving everyone on the team.
But the emotions that helped Miller elevate the Canucks as he evolved into one of the best power-forwards in the National Hockey League, almost unique as a centre, are the emotions that also carried him away to the New York Rangers in Friday night’s blockbuster trade.
“This was a conversation between myself and J.T. and his agent,” Allvin told reporters at the airport after the Canucks returned without Miller and others from their three-game road trip. “It started about two months ago with his health and the environment we had. During the time and during the discussions leading up to yesterday, I felt that he probably needed a fresh start in where he was in his life and in his age, and with his family, (and) that this was the best option for him and the Vancouver Canucks.
“I mean, J.T. Miller, the reason why he’s good in the league is that he’s super competitive, and he’s walking the fine line at times. And I also think that he’s been dealing with a lot of other things. I wouldn’t just say it’s about two players; it’s about 23 men in a dressing room. You hold each other accountable. We’re not running a country club here, we’re running a professional hockey team, and the players demand a lot from themselves and each other. So it’s going to be a competitive environment.”
Less than two months since ending a sudden 10-game leave of absence for mental health reasons, Miller was traded to the Rangers for third-line centre Filip Chytil, defence prospect Victor Mancini and a conditional first-round draft pick.
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368136915112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368136915112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368136915112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-315843" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6368136915112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/6368136915112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/were-not-running-a-country-club-allvin-on-canucks-personality-conflicts/" }); });
“This was something that J.T. and I discussed; he never requested a trade,” Allvin said. “This was the best for him. . . and his health and his family, and for the Vancouver Canucks.”
The best player Vancouver gets back in the Miller deal is from the Pittsburgh Penguins, as Allvin flipped the Rangers’ pick for top-four blue-liner Marcus Pettersson as the centrepiece of a separate five-player swap that sent Canucks Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais to Pennsylvania.
The Canucks also packaged B-grade prospect Melvin Fernstrom in the deal, which brings depth forward Drew O’Connor to Vancouver with Pettersson.
Allvin worked the two trades concurrently, knowing he needed the Rangers’ draft pick to get the defenceman he coveted from the Penguins.
The GM said the four new Canucks were on their way to Vancouver, and should all be available to coach Rick Tocchet for Sunday’s 5 p.m. home game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Four players represent 20 per cent of an NHL lineup, so the Canucks, at least on paper, will look like a very different team than they were Friday, when a three-game winning streak ended with a 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars.
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368137383112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368137383112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368137383112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-453029" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6368137383112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/6368137383112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/canucks-allvin-conversations-with-miller-started-two-months-ago/" }); });
Despite all the melodrama, upheaval and injuries of this season, the Canucks returned from the road just one point out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“Hopefully, this will galvanize and make our team better,” Allvin said. “It’s definitely different. I do like the pieces we have added here. Marcus was a key piece for us. We’ve been looking since the summer and those type of defencemen are hard to get, and I felt with him, there wasn’t a whole lot (else) available on the market.
“And obviously getting Chytil, Mancini and Drew O’Connor (are) big pieces for us — how we want to play and how we want to construct our roster. It was important to get younger players into the organization. Obviously, Marcus has the most experience of those players, but we feel that we needed to retool it.”
Pettersson, 28, and O’Connor, 26, are eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1.
Allvin said it is “definitely a priority” to re-sign Pettersson, whom Canucks president Jim Rutherford acquired when he was running the Penguins, and who worked in Pittsburgh with Sergei Gonchar, Vancouver’s defence development coach.
Pettersson is making $4.03 million U.S. this season. O’Connor’s expiring cap hit is $925,000. Chytil, 25, has two more years at $4.03 million under contract, and Mancini, 22, has another season at $870,000 on his entry-level deal.
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368131891112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368131891112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6368131891112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-807224" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6368131891112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/6368131891112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/kinda-numb-right-now-miller-opens-up-about-being-dealt-back-to-rangers/" }); });
All of their salaries don’t add up to the $11.6 million the Canucks have committed to Elias Pettersson for this season and another seven years.
Somehow, the Canucks survived the first 51 games with two elephants in the living room. The Miller-Pettersson pachyderm was so gargantuan that it mostly obscured the second elephant: Pettersson’s deeply disappointing play since signing his $92.8-million contract extension nearly a year ago.
Make no mistake: the Canucks made the Miller trade with the expectation that their original Pettersson, now 26, will put in the work to elevate his game and lead this team on the ice, which he rarely had to do when Miller was around to draw lightning strikes and the toughest matchups.
“I know that Elias is, as I said a couple of weeks ago, committed to do the right things, finding his way to play to the level where we all know that he’s capable of,” Allvin said. “And he shows signs of going in the right direction. I know that he is doing the extra work that is needed. And I hope that he is one of (the players) that’s going to. . . lead the team the right way, playing the right way.”
Allvin said he isn’t worried about the attention and pressure that now shifts to the highest-paid player in Canucks history.
“I think that’s part of being a professional hockey player, and especially when you commit to that kind of contract,” he said. “My expectation is higher on him than anyone else on our team, and I expect him to meet my expectation, and I expect him to meet his own expectation. And so far, he has not done that. If you talk to him, he’s disappointed, but he’s aware of it. And I know that he’s capable and he will work at it.”
ICE CHIPS — The Canucks’ best player, Norris and Hart Trophy candidate Quinn Hughes, did not practise Saturday morning in Dallas after the defenceman appeared to sustain or aggravate a lower-body injury on Friday. Allvin said Hughes could be a game-time decision Sunday for coach Rick Tocchet. . . As for UFA-eligible Canucks winger Brock Boeser, the GM said: “In the end of the day, both sides need to find common ground there. We’ll see where it goes here over the next couple of weeks.” The NHL trade deadline is March 7.
