The Colorado Avalanche are currently in fourth place in the central division and four points behind the third-place Minnesota Wild. With the 2024-25 trade deadline approaching—it’s only just over one month away—the Avalanche might want to take a look at who could be available. One of those names is J.T. Miller of the Vancouver Canucks.
Miller is 31-years-old and turns 32 this March. Reports suggest that Miller and fellow Canucks teammate Elias Pettersson have developed a feud with each other for whatever reason, and it appears likely that one of those two players could end up checking out of Vancouver. The Avalanche might benefit from the mess over in Western Canada.
I pondered the idea of Pettersson being in the trade instead, but for cap reasons, acquiring Miller would be the smarter move.
Going the other way would be Casey Mittelstadt. The thinking here is that Mittelstadt hasn’t been very consistent for Colorado. He’s got just nine goals and 22 assists in 52 games. Even going back to last season, Mittelstadt’s production was not consistent whatsoever. Taking a look at both players, Miller is the better faceoff player. This season, he has taken 698 faceoffs and won 409 for 58.6 percent. He has a faceoff percentage of over 50 percent in every year of his career minus his rookie season with the Lightning.
On the other side is Mittelstadt, who has never had a season in which his faceoff percentage was greater than 49 percent.
The Avalanche have not been a great faceoff team for a number of years now. Adding Miller could be the key to being successful in that department. More faceoff wins equals better puck control and more opportunities to put pressure on opposing teams’ defenses and goaltenders.
To add a little bit extra to the deal, the Avalanche could also include Calvin de Haan, who many appear to be unhappy with due to his lack of a fit on the Avalanche’s defense. I won’t pretend to understand those X’s and O’s, but the idea of moving de Haan has been a topic of discussion on X for a while, it seems.
The trade would add $1,450,000 on the Avalanche’s books and it would seem to guarantee that Gabriel Landeskog won’t return this year, but I think that I’d take that chance because we don’t know what Landeskog will be like after two seasons out of commission.
According to StatMuse, Miller also has 43 power-play goals in his career. If you’ve watched Colorado this year, the power play has been struggling for quite some time.
Obviously with Miller being a center, he’d take over Mittelstadt’s spot on the second line, which would be the perfect spot for him and make the most sense. His addition to the Avalanche’s lineup could put him at a new level.
Some people also appear to feel that the Avalanche’s championship window is closing, which I personally don’t understand. If it truly is, though, the Avalanche need to act now and trade for a player that can make an immediate impact. The trade of Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes also makes my point stronger. Though I like what the Avalanche got in return, maybe the two players aren’t enough.
If the Avalanche feel the same way—if they have a thought about adding more depth, Miller is the guy to go and get.