I believe that JT is an absolutely phenomenal hockey player and the Canucks are lucky to have him. That being said, given the fact that it looks as though Miller is already starting his decline before his deal even starts, he is bound to face a certain backlash from fans.

My argument would be that Nylander should be valued at at least 2 million below Pettersson. I believe that an 8.5 x 8 deal is what he deserves based on his career up to this point. He is definitely a comparable to Timo Meier in my mind. This deal would be a panic move from Treliving in hopes of shaking up the core while still being a top team in a competitive division.

I think objectively, Nylander is better than Meier, but what's more important is that Nylander probably thinks he is better. Nylander has some comparables that are making ~8M like Fiala and Forsberg one is playing in a tax free state though. I think it's more important that Nylander probably thinks he is better than Meier, and there's also the fact that Meier would have wanted 9M+ to stay in SJ and is willing to take less guessing around 8.5M to be on a contender. While Vancouver is no SJ, they have failed to make thr playoffs for a couple of years now despite looking pretty good on paper, I don't see why Nylander would want to take less to play there. In Toronto, he's going to compare himself to guys who are making 11M+, so if Petterson decides not to ask for more than 10.5M, I think Nylander would view that as a Petey problem. Nylander is a second gen NHLer, what might satisfy Petey might not satisfy him. Pettersson could demand 12Mx8 and probably get it.

I don't think Toronto remains a top team in their division for long if they trade Nylander for Miller. The idea of the Leafs core needing a shakeup by trading one of Matthews, Marner, or Nylander doesn't make much sense to me. Firstly, because they likely don't get better/lose the trade and I think Treliving knows that (the plan is to re-sign Matthews and Nylander). Secondly, if the point of the shakeup is to scare or shock the other core players, well, Matthews is a year away from FA, and Marner is two and both their NMCs kick in. Tavares is in the same boat. Rielly has term but also has trade protection. The rest of the team is mostly fairly new anyways. In other words, it would be pointless. They should only make moves if they improve the team or if they can't afford a guy.

To summarize, if this was a panic move from Treliving, it would be related to contract negotiations.