Canucks prez Jim Rutherford shares startling new insight into Elias Pettersson-Miller feud - "J.T. tried hard to help fix the situation"

In the aftermath of the Vancouver Canucks missing the playoffs, more details have started to trickle in regarding the feud between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller.

Vancouver's star forwards were the driving force behind the team's success in 2023-24, but a long-standing rift boiled over to begin the 2024-25 campaign. Their relationship became unsalvageable and it was wearing on others in the organization, which forced Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin and President Jim Rutherford to take action.

J.T. Miller was eventually traded to the New York Rangers on January 31 for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a 2025 first-round draft pick, marking the end of an era.

While everyone kept quiet about the ordeal for the remainder of the season, players, coaches, and management have started to open up in their end-of-season media availabilities. Allvin and Rutherford spoke on Monday afternoon, and Rutherford was very honest. The Canucks shared the full press conference on Youtube.

"I don’t believe the issue was limited to just two people, it filtered through most of the team and affected our overall chemistry. I genuinely think J.T. (Miller) tried hard to help fix the situation. Many within our organization worked on it," Rutherford said (10:00 onwards).

"Like with anything, there's a desire for instant resolution, but this wasn’t something that could be solved in a day or a week. Once we reached a point where the organization collectively felt the situation couldn’t be fixed, we had to explore all possible options," Rutherford added.

"We approached JT about the idea of a move, and at that time, he was open to it. As some time passed, he became more anxious and made it clear that he did, in fact, want to be traded and was willing to waive his no-trade clause to go to the New York Rangers," Rutherford concluded.

J.T. Miller was in the second season of a seven-year, $56,000,000 extension signed with the Canucks in 2022. As Rutherford mentioned, Miller possessed a full no-movement clause and had set his sights on returning to the Rangers, where he was drafted in 2011 and started his NHL career.

J.T. Miller excelled after leaving the Canucks

To make matters worse for the Canucks, J.T. Miller thrived with the New York Rangers, while Elias Pettersson continued to struggle in Vancouver after the blockbuster trade.

The 32-year-old produced at over a point-per-game rate, racking up 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games with New York. He immediately became a do-it-all player for the Blueshirts, providing value on the power play, penalty kill, and at even strength.

Watching Miller find his game as soon as he left Vancouver had Canucks fans wondering whether they made the wrong move. It's far too early to come to that conclusion, however, J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson will be compared and linked for the rest of their careers after the ugly breakup.