UWSaint wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2025 1:05 pm
Mëds wrote: ↑Fri Jan 03, 2025 9:36 pm
The sad thing is, it was probably the best the team could do given the current roster.
1-0 then two empty netters and an outstanding game by Saros. The Canucks gave the effort on the back to back, but yeah, this is a pretty poor NHL team w/o Hughes, Hronek, and Pettersson.
So let’s trade Petey, right?
Depending upon the return…..yes.
Pettersson is producing at a 24G/67P pace. Similar to what we saw in his first several seasons. As soon as Miller took his 10 game hiatus Pettersson's output changed to a 16G/123P pace over that span. As soon as Miller returned Pettersson went back to his previous form and in the 7 games he played since then he has 2 goals, both of which he scored in the 7th game, that's good for 23G/23P over an 82 game season.
Miller has also been poor this season, but only when stacked up to his previous seasons in Vancouver. He is still pacing for 73 points. When you look at other players around the league making similar salaries, he is pacing adequately. But his leadership is not what it was last season, his on ice presence is not the same. JT is not the same guy right now.
Clearly these two players cannot coexist on the same roster.
Miller has the bearing of a guy who is trying to figure out a way to be the player he wants to be without hurting sensitive feelings. I've seen that in plenty of situations in the workplace. The boss (in this case JR/PA/RT) tells someone that they can't be who they have been for the past 5+ years because it isn't working for someone else in the group. Miller, for his part, has had the best intentions for the team and for winning and feels a responsibility to lead and push the group to get better, and now he has to find a new way to do that.....but to do that he's fighting his own character and the very things that have helped him become the player he is, and also helped the team up to this point. The current management group chose JT over Bo for a good reason, they saw the leadership and fire that Bo lacked. The edge that Miller plays with and his willingness to let the pent up emotion out at times to push the group, whereas Horvat was the diplomant.....the Linden clone. The Sedin-mentored young captain. Then, 2 years ago (almost), Tocchet came in and helped Miller channel his emotions the right way, gone were the pouts and lazy skates to the bench after a play or call didn't go how he wanted it. He became a very consistent player, the team rallied around and behind him. JT was the fire and Hughes, donning the C, was the control. Look at the other players who fell in behind and had great years. Garland and Boeser became much more complete players, guys like Joshua started to step up and feed off of that. Miller's impact was obvious. Then the guy who has been the most inconsistent in following suit gets the biggest contract, and Miller is (perhaps) told that he has to change what has been successful in order to coddle the feelings of this superstar salary holder.
To me that completely explains the Miller we've been seeing.
I'm at the point where I would say move either of them IF we knew that Pettersson would become a consistent producer and not just a guy who flashes 1.5 PPG production for 10 games and then scores 2 points over the next 7 games while looking disinterested. I'm not convinced of that, and if anyone here is brutally honest with themselves they would likely say the same.
Pettersson's value still returns a 2C and second pairing D. I'd be more than happy with a return of Cozens and Byram for Pettersson and spare parts. Both guys are 23 years old and have room to grow, and I think both of them would be players who contribute more at a time like we have now where top players are injured.
Also, enough players have seen serious upticks in their overall game after leaving Buffalo.
