The Minnesota Wild’s trade for defenseman Quinn Hughes has added a new dimension to J.T. Miller trade chatter. Hughes may reportedly serve as a sounding board for general manager Bill Guerin helping the team understand the circumstances behind the widely publicized split between Miller and former Canucks star Elias Pettersson, should the Wild explore a possible Miller move.
Insiders Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic pointed to Miller as a player who fits the kind of mold Guerin admires.
“We know Guerin has a soft spot for Miller,” they noted. “Miller is a Guerin type of player. Hard-nosed, surly, excellent in the faceoff circle and somebody who can score, with a career-high 37 goals and 103 points in 2023-24.”
The insiders emphasized the balancing act Guerin would eventually face. Taking on a player with four more years at $8 million per season could limit the Wild’s flexibility to pursue other high-end targets in the future, such as Quinn’s brothers Jack or Luke Hughes, or Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators.
“The issue is he turns 33 this year and has four more years on his contract at an $8 million AAV. And if the Wild take on a lot of term, it could take them out of the running for some bigger fish — like, let’s say, a Jack and Luke Hughes or a Brady Tkachuk trade in the offseason or beyond.”
“If Guerin would ever entertain this, he may want to sit down with Hughes and figure out exactly what went on behind the scenes in Vancouver that led to the much-publicized Miller-Elias Pettersson divorce,” Russo and Smith noted.
Miller is signed to a seven-year contract with a total value of $56 million. His full no-move clause makes any trade contingent on his willingness to relocate and he will not reach unrestricted free agency until the conclusion of the 2029-30 season.
Elias Pettersson trade return compared to J.T. Miller trade
Earlier last week, NHL insider Frank Seravalli addressed the trade situation surrounding Elias Pettersson on Sportsnet 650, comparing Pettersson’s potential return to that of former Canucks center J.T. Miller who was traded to the New York Rangers in 2025.
Seravalli noted that Pettersson, under an eight-year, $92.8 million contract with an $11.6 million cap hit and a full no-movement clause starting in 2025‑26, could command a higher return than some expected.
“I think they can do way better than that. I do,” Seravalli said. “The market has changed on Pettersson because teams see how hard it is to get a player like him. They see the upside and compare it to what other centers are being paid. 11.6 is a risk, but it’s not crazy with the cap rising and the center market being thin.”
He added that teams understand opportunities like this are rare which explains why the Canucks were considering that Pettersson’s trade value might exceed initial projections.
While Pettersson’s larger contract complicates any potential trade, the Canucks could see a significant return if a deal materialized, similar to but potentially exceeding the value obtained in the Miller trade.
Edited by Anjum Rajonno