How Vincent Trocheck played a role in bringing childhood friend J.T. Miller to Rangers

A little less than a month ago, Hillary Trocheck surprised Natalie Miller for her birthday, flying across North America for a surprise visit in Vancouver.

Both their husbands, Vincent Trocheck and J.T.

Miller, were on hockey road trips for the Rangers and Canucks, respectively, and the wives reached out.

Advertisement The two of them, they were pushing us: Oh you guys have got to get this trade done! Vincent Trocheck said.

Were like, We dont have any say.

At that point, playing with his childhood friend still felt like a pipe dream to Trocheck, even though Millers name had come up in trade talks and the Rangers had long coveted him.

But this past Friday it became a reality with Vancouver trading Miller, Erik Brannstrom and prospect Jackson Dorrington to New York for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and a protected first-round pick.

Miller, who played the first 341 games of his career with New York before a 2018 trade to Tampa Bay, waived his no-movement clause to become a Ranger once again.

Needless to say, Trocheck was elated.

He teared up the next day during postgame interviews and called Miller his best friend in the world.

The two grew up together in the Pittsburgh area but had never overlapped on an NHL roster before the trade.

I dont think at the start of the year we were thinking about playing with each other, but when the opportunity came its something that, for our families, is really special, Miller said.

For us to be here together, trying to work together for a common goal, its a really cool feeling.

Millers tenure in Vancouver was highly productive on the ice.

Hes one of only two Canucks players ever to average more than a point per game, and the team pushed Edmonton to seven games in a second-round series last spring.

The center, though, had a rift with teammate Elias Pettersson that leaked into the public, culminating with team president Jim Rutherford giving an interview to The Globe and Mail in which he said there didnt appear to be a solution to keeping the group together.

Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury said the Rangers front office did a lot of homework on Miller before making the deal.

During that process, he talked to Trocheck, who has emerged as a key voice in the Rangers dressing room and a potential option to fill the teams vacant captaincy.

Advertisement (Drury) came to me whenever he thought it might be a possibility that J.T.

would be traded, Trocheck said.

Just asked if it was something that J.T.

would ...

be willing to do, come to New York.

That was just the start of the process.

And then talking to J.T., seeing if New York was somewhere he wanted to be was the next step.

Trocheck sensed that originally he didnt really want to leave Vancouver.

His family had made a home there.

But Miller clearly warmed to the idea of getting traded and acknowledged it got a little ugly (in Vancouver) at the end.

He called it a team effort between his camp and the Canucks to find him a different place to play.

It was something weve always dreamed of, playing together, Trocheck said.

Obviously the logistics of it, hes closer to home: his family can come up any time, hes got friends here outside of hockey.

All of that put together, once he kind of processed it, then he wanted to come.

About a week after Hillarys visit to Vancouver, an iteration of a Miller trade to New York almost happened.

Though the deal never got close enough for the Canucks to ask Miller to waive his no-movement clause, the team nearly didnt dress him Jan.

18 for trade-related reasons.

Trocheck said he talked to Miller about a potential trade over the past month, and he monitored the near-deal extremely closely.

Two weeks later, with the Rangers in Boston, Trocheck was at dinner when he got a text from Miller that a new deal was going through.

Even though it had been an open possibility for weeks, Trocheck said it didnt feel like a real thing until that moment.

The two friends talked multiple times over the course of that evening.

Neither of us could really believe it, said Trocheck, who is housing Miller until he finds a place of his own.

Just figuring out when he was going to get there, if he was going to play the next day in Boston.

Obviously he was going to stay with me, (figuring out) when his family was going to come out, all that kind of stuff.

Advertisement Miller did in fact make it in time to play against the Bruins, landing around 3 a.m.

and scoring twice in a 6-3 loss.

He collected two assists the next day in a win against Vegas, then finally got an off day and a practice before playing Boston again Wednesday night.

He and Trocheck have spent plenty of time together both at and away from the facility.

Hillary posted a picture of the two cooking ribeye steaks together on her Instagram story.

This is ideal, she wrote.

J.T.

Miller has moved right in with his childhood friend, Vincent Trocheck, after being traded to New York (via IG/hillarytrocheck) pic.twitter.com/atkj6J3ixY B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 4, 2025 The Trochecks 6-year-old son, Leo, is right between Millers two daughters in age, and their daughter, 4-year-old Lennon, is a little more than a year older than Millers son.

Leo is ecstatic to have his close friends go to school with him, Trocheck said.

And Leos dad is ecstatic to have his close friend at the rink.

If youre starting a team with somebody, its somebody who is able to produce offensively but bring that physical aspect of the game and vocal leadership in the room, Trocheck said.

It doesnt get much more ideal than that.

(Photos of J.T.

Miller and Vincent Trocheck: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images and Jared Silber / NHLI via Getty Images).

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