The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the opportunity for J.T. Miller, but the door isn't shut on the possibility.

As everyone looks back at the NHL trade deadline and everyone’s fresh faces, a lot will be left wondering what happened between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks?

The Penguins and Canucks had talks reportedly lasting a couple of days involving names like Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Marcus Pettersson, and P.O. Joseph.

With that much heat and that many names being thrown around, something seemed inevitable.

As time went on the names dwindled down and the main focus surrounded Miller coming to Pittsburgh.

That was until 3:00 p.m. hit and no trade call was made between the teams; in a post deadline press conference, Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said he never received an offer from anyone on Miller.

Rob Rossi of the Athletic stated that the Canucks approached Penguins general manager about Miller, but Hextall wasn’t into the idea, but was willing to discuss options.

Putting aside the kind of wrench Miller and his contract would throw into the Penguins roster and salary cap situation, what happened between Hextall and Allvin?

According to Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the two parties had discussions about Miller for a number of months.

Darren Dreger of TSN stated that the Penguins took a ‘hard run’ at Miller, but they couldn’t offer what the Canucks wanted.

That was backed by Friedman; the Canucks wanted a young, NHL-ready center, something the Penguins clearly cannot offer.

Friedman dives into the possibilities that may have gone into the discussions, including a third team to offer players, but everything became too complicated.

Miller signed a seven-year, $8 million contract extension that doesn’t start until next season, and the Penguins likely can’t afford that.

Friedman, and Josh Yohe of the Athletic, said that while there was no deal for Miller made, the door is still open.

It’s very possible the discussions between the Penguins and Canucks regarding Miller come back during this upcoming offseason.

Adding $8 million annually means other big changes will need to be made to the Penguins roster.

If Hextall really wants to go through with that, there will be some tough decisions to be made.

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