New York Rangers had a trade for J.T. Miller fall through per Elliotte Friedman

Elliotte Friedman gave an update today on the recent rumors regarding J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers. They'd died down as the Rangers had begun to pick up steam and elevate themselves up the standings. Still, the rumors coming out suggest that something was done in theory today, and the Rangers were about to land the East Palestine, Ohio native, but that trade fell apart and is now dead in the water. However, it explains much of the peculiar noise we've heard today.

The J.T. Miller rumors began picking up steam this morning before the matinees started. A team began pushing hard to get a deal over the line today regarding J.T. Miller, and Friedman thinks the Rangers were that team. We didn't know this then, but there were signs, specifically regarding the Hartford Wolf Pack, as three key players (Bo Groulx, Jaroslav Chemlar, and Adam Sykora) were scratched ahead of their game today. Two of them were involved in the deal, though one was to send a message after a poor performance in a 7-3 defeat last time out.

The smoke was there with a few members missing from the AHL team. However, when the Rangers game began against the Columbus Blue Jackets, none of the usual roster players were missing. Either the Rangers were about to take on their entire cap hit of J.T. Miller, or the trade was dead in the water by this point. Either way, it didn't happen, and the Rangers haven't had a reunion with their former player.

Miller is in year 2 of a 7-year deal, which sees him carry an $8 million a year cap hit. Miller also has a no-movement clause, but he wasn't asked to waive that, which indicates that the trade was never close enough to make the player consider his future. We know now that a few teams can talk to Miller regarding a deal for him. Where he ends up, we'll see, but the Rangers seem to be upping the efforts to acquire the former New York Ranger.