Just In: Rangers are said to want to trade for a $56 million forward.

The New York Rangers may soon make some changes to their team.

There are more and more trade rumours going around because the Rangers have lost four straight games and are playing their rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, on Friday. Elliotte Friedman, a source close to the NHL, said on Monday that the team is willing to trade key players like Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider. It only took a few more days for Kaapo Kakko’s name to show up on the list of possible trade partners.

The Rangers may have to let go of some known faces because they have been losing, but general manager Chris Drury may also bring in some new players to help.

In fact, New York is now being linked to a familiar that has been there before.

A source in the league told Arthur Staple of The Athletic on Friday that the Rangers recently asked the Vancouver Canucks about J.T. Miller. “Miller was a 2011 first-round pick by the Rangers and has been coveted by Drury before.”

Staple says that the Rangers tried to trade for Miller from the Canucks before the trade deadline in 2021-22.

Vancouver pulled out of talks, though, because Drury wouldn’t include centre Braden Schneider in any possible deal. Because of that, the player who has scored 20 goals seven times signed a new deal with the Canucks worth $56 million over seven years.

Miller has been one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL since he signed his new deal before the 2022–23 season. In his last 179 games, he has scored 75 goals, including 13 game-winning goals, and 201 points. To start the season, he has scored 6 goals and gathered 16 points in 17 games.

Miller’s first NHL game was when the Rangers picked him 15th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Before being moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning in February 2018, the 6-foot-1 centre scored 72 goals and had 172 points in 341 games with the Rangers. Another two draft picks were included in the deal.

Miller has come a long way since he left town, and the Rangers might need the better Miller to get back on track. Still, a deal might not happen right away since the 31-year-old veteran hasn’t played for the Canucks since November 19 for “personal reasons.”

The Rangers will have to do some fancy money-making to make a deal happen, no matter when they can trade for Miller.

The senior forward has a $8 million cap hit right now, and he’s only in the second year of his seven-year deal. According to PuckPedia, the Rangers only have a little more than $829,000 left in cap room.

The Canucks have $793,000 in open salary space, so they probably won’t keep much (if any) of Miller’s pay in a possible deal. That is, the Rangers might have to trade either Trouba ($8 million) or Kreider ($6.5 million) to make a deal possible.

Miller’s future with the Canucks (and maybe even the Rangers) will become clearer as the deadline draws near. The last day to trade in the NHL for the 2024–25 season is Friday, March 7, at 3 p.m. ET.