The Vancouver Canucks went through a tumultuous period during the 2024-25 season. After a solid campaign the year before, everything went down the tubes. The unsustainable situation involving Elias Petterson, among other things, led to the J.T. Miller trade in January of 2025.
Along the way, Vancouver wanted a piece that could have offset Miller’s departure. That was Alexis Lafreniere.
The former first-overall pick had been going through some struggles of his own. The rough going in New York for Lafreniere led to all sorts of questions about his viability as a high-end forward.
But, as Ben Kuzma noted in The Province, the Canucks believed they could help Lafreniere turn things around.
“They believe that in the right place and at the right time, plus proper systems and deployments, they can coax the most out of reclamation projects.”
The comment came in relation to another top-five draft pick, Shane Wright of the Seattle Kraken. The sentiment, nonetheless, applied to Lafreniere. The talented winger dropped from 19 goals in 2021-22 to just 16 in 2022-23.
And it was that tough season that prompted calls for the Rangers to move on from Lafreniere.
“It’s why the Vancouver Canucks had past interest in winger Alexis Lafrenière when the 2020 first-overall draft pick by the New York Rangers struggled in the 2022-23 season with just 16 goals and 39 points.”
The Rangers balked at moving Lafreniere that season. But when the J.T. Miller trade came around, the Canucks wanted the 24-year-old. Again, the Rangers didn’t budge.
Vancouver ended up accepting Filip Chytil and a first-round pick. Chytil has unfortunately been hurt, while the first-round pick ended up becoming Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. Pettersson, interestingly, is now with the Rangers.
That said, how much different would this trade have been if the Canucks got Lafreniere?
Canucks Would Have Easily Won Trade Had They Gotten Lafreniere
On the whole, the J.T. Miller trade was a massive failure for Vancouver. They lost a top-line center for practically peanuts. While it’s not Chytil’s fault he’s been hurt, the loss of the first-round pick has also weighed heavily on the situation.
But if the Canucks had gotten Lafreniere, the outlook would have been radically different. Perhaps “Laffy” and Elias Pettersson could have clicked. A playmaking winger like Lafreniere could have complemented Pettersson well.
Perhaps Lafreniere could have elevated other players around him like Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk.
Sadly, Lafreniere would not have been enough to prevent what ultimately unfolded.
What to read next:
Vancouver Was on Downward Spiral
The Miller trade happened because the Canucks were on a death spiral. The team bottomed out this past season, and, well, the Quinn Hughes trade was just the cherry on top.
Still, one would have to think that, if the Canucks had landed Lafreniere in 2023, things could have been different for everyone involved. Potentially, the Miller trade would have still happened. The organization, nevertheless, would have been in a different spot.
This story will go down as an unfortunate episode in the trail of mismanagement by Vancouver. It will serve as a cautionary tale of how botched moves can come back to haunt organizations.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Canucks Wanted Former 1st Overall Pick for J.T. Miller, But Failed appeared first on HEAVY.