The Vancouver Canucks have a star problem, but we're not talking about stars that are the size of the sun that heats and lights up our planet. We're talking about star players; two of them, to be exact.
The widely-speculated, highly-publicized rift between star Canucks forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, and the subsequent situation created as a result, is beginning to reach a fever pitch. Hell, even former Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau confirmed there was a problem between the two players, but he was under the assumption that Miller and Pettersson had buried the hatchet before he was hired.
Kudos to Miller and Pettersson for managing to keep it out from under Boudreau's nose, but this is now affecting the product that is being put out on the ice. That is not acceptable and not fair to Canucks management, the coaching staff, and the Canucks fans. The NHL is a professional league, and it's the greatest hockey league in the world. Let's get it together here.
Canucks must trade Miller or Pettersson
The fact that there was an issue between Miller and Pettersson before Boudreau was hired suggests that this has been going on for years, and now that this is re-surfacing again, the Canucks must intervene and do what is best for themselves: make a trade.
Do the Canucks trade Miller, who is 31 years old, has six years remaining on his contract at an $8 million cap hit, and is on pace for one of his least productive seasons in a Canucks uniform, or Pettersson, who is only 26, already has a 100-point season under his belt, and just signed an eight-year, $92.8 million contract extension on March 2?
Intuition would favor keeping Pettersson by a significant margin, but Miller and Pettersson are both 100-point players and unquestionably important to the Canucks' successes and failures. The problem is, until (or if) they figure out their problems, they will be responsible for more failures than successes.
Pettersson has not recorded a point in the five games since Miller returned from his leave of absence. Miller has three assists in those five games, but has only two goals in 13 games since the start of November. Yikes.
Soon, the Canucks will traverse past the point of no repair and their hands will be forced. And the longer this drags out and the worse the two Canucks play, the lower their trade value will become. Tick tock.