Rangers Reacquire J.T. Miller Plus Two Prospects for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and First Round Pick

After weeks of rumors and speculation, J.T. Miller is officially returning to New York and the franchise where he began his career.

It's the second straight Friday night rocked by a big trade in the NHL. Elliotte Friedman was first to report that talks between the Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks over J.T. Miller had resumed, were intensifying, and eventually resulted in him being scratched as Vancouver was preparing to take on the Dallas Stars on the road tonight.

As hockey fans everywhere spent the net half hour constantly refreshing their preferred news sources, the final package was announced: Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a top-13 protected draft pick in exchange for J.T. Miller, and prospects Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington.

Important notes of the trade:

• No salary retained on J.T. Miller, therefore the Rangers take on the entirety of his salary which is $8 million through 2030 (yikes!)
• The first round pick is protected, so if the pick ends up being a top 13 selection, Vancouver will receive the Rangers 2026 first round pick instead.
• Rangers also pick up two defensemen in the deal, which is especially interesting when you consider they still have Zac Jones sitting in the press box most nights.

All in all, the Rangers certainly could have done worse. It sucks to see Filip Chytil go, but the injury concern after suffering multiple concussions is unfortunately a very real factor. However, there's a very real trade off in acquiring a 31-year old center (who will be 32 next month) that is signed to big money for the next half decade. You can debate in the comments which gamble is better but the fact of the matter is, Chytil is a very hard guy to dislike and he will be sorely missed by a great deal of the fanbase.

Losing Victor Mancini is fine. The Rangers just committed five more years to Will Borgen and still have E.J. Emery in the pipeline. Having protection on the first rounder is wise but there's still plenty of room for the Rangers to miss the playoffs and still have to give up the pick which would be a disaster.

Erik Brannstrom is another former first round draft pick who hasn't been able to find a home since being dealt from the Ottawa Senators in the Mark Stone deal. At 25, there's still plenty of potential in him finding a home but for now, I'd expect him to be more use to Hartford than the Rangers. Jackson Dorrington is a 2022 6th rounder currently playing for Northeastern. Reports say he has good hockey IQ and defends well, not the most exciting prospect to get in the trade but a fair gamble for the Rangers to take.

We're definitely going to let this one marinate before determining how good or bad of a trade this is but for the most part, it's relatively fair and makes sense for both sides generally speaking. Let us know your thoughts in the comments and perhaps we'll see J.T. Miller in Boston tomorrow afternoon.