I think there is a chance both Horvat and Miller are moved.
I strongly suspect Miller is moved first. I’ll be surprised if he is a canuck a few weeks from now to be honest. The only way he stays is if the Canucks are willing to hand out a massive contract extension in the summer. I don’t see why they’d do that when Rutherford has been very vocal about opening up cap space. I also don’t see why Miller would sign any contract before getting a read on the 23-24 and beyond salary cap.
Horvat I think they lean towards keeping but he’s not unloveable by any stretch of the imagination.
I would be VERY surprised if both Horvat and Miller are moved. Who's going to play 2C behind Petey? Zacha? I'm not sure if there is a team with a promising young C who is looking to acquire Horvat or Miller.
From the rumours, it doesn't sound like Horvat is being shopped. And I won't be surprised if teams are calling on Miller instead. Think about it. Miller makes less this year and next and is the superior player both at C and on the wing. Miller can also have a PP run through him if needed. It doesn't make sense for a team looking to contend this year and next to target Horvat instead. I guess i can see Calgary dumping Monahan onto us but after the Toffoli trade they likely don't have this year's 1st.
This kind of brings me back to to OP's question. I've kind of waffled back and forth but right now, I'm leaning towards extending Miller and trading Horvat instead of that is realistically doable. It's clear that Miller is the superior player and while Horvat is younger, Miller is likely going to the superior player over the next few years. I'm also not sure that Horvat will necessary age as well as Miller or better (given that he is 2 years younger). BUT I don't think that's doable. I think Horvat would be more affordable and easier to extend.
As for Miller signing an extension, I don't see why he would refuse to sign an extension because he wants to wait and see where the cap is at. I never understood this take. It's not that difficult to realistically project what he can sign for a year from now. I fully expect his agent to be competent enough to do so. Meanwhile, he is coming off a season where his value (barring a serious injury) is at high. While he has never been a UFA and might be interested in the process, he could easily have a down year next season or worse suffer a serious injury.
Like I said before, Landeskog signed for 8x$7M. That would be a good comparable. If I was Miller, I would look at $7M AAV as the minimum on at least a 6 year contract. Blake Coleman (same agent) signed for 6x$4.9M. Duchene signed for 7x$8M prior to covid.
I think it's clear that the Canucks would be lucky if they can extend Miller and no make him the highest paid forward before Petey's next contract. Quite frankly, he deserves it. The question is whether the Canucks are better off just trading him now when he seems to be at his height of his value.
