Former Canucks alternate captain Ryan Kesler said a good old-fashioned fist fight between JT Miller and Elias Pettersson would have resolved their rift. The soap opera between JT Miller and Elias Pettersson has <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/vancouver-canucks/jt-miller-responds-to-comments-from-president-jim-rutherford-on-locker-room-conflict-with-elias-pettersson' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>been the story of the Vancouver Canucks' season</a>. Their rivalry finally spilled over into the public, and Miller was traded to the New York Rangers. The aftermath has shadowed the team all season, with ex-players, coaches, and media pundits weighing in. It's been a nagging distraction for the franchise. <h3>Ryan Kesler would have had them settle their rift the old-school way</h3> Veteran Canucks legend and former alternate captain Ryan Kesler weighed in recently, joking an old-school way of settling the argument before conceding how bizarre it was to see such a high-profile breakup play out so publicly. Back in the day, we used to do helmets and gloves, locker box, joked Kesler on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast. I got my face punched in a couple of times. I definitely haven't seen anything that's been that public before. There are rifts in the locker room throughout the year, but nothing to that scale. I've met both of them, I don't know them personally I've heard versions of stories, but I don't even know what happened. That would be my first thought: let's get these two guys in a room, let's take them out, let's go have drinks with them, continued Kesler. It might make things worse, but maybe that's what we need. Maybe we just need a sucker punch, and we're good the next day. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/spittinchiclets/status/1896938685733474462'> </a></blockquote></div> The soap opera has come at a cost on the ice. The Canucks were prepared to make the Western Conference Final last year. <a href='https://www.nhl.com/standings/2025-03-04/wildcard' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Now, they can't even hold onto a Wild Card.</a> It's a tough one; you have two of your star players who allegedly can't get along. They go toe-to-toe basically, and then it gets out in the media, and I know that Vancouver market, they definitely love the drama, which is fine; it's a hockey market, and you've got to have something to talk about. That definitely grew, and I think it really hurt their team this year. I watched them play Anaheim when I was in California, and they don't look like the same team they did last year. - Ryan Kesler <a href='https://www.nhl.com/rangers/player/j-t-miller-8476468' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Miller</a> and <a href='https://www.nhl.com/canucks/player/elias-pettersson-8480012' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Pettersson</a> possessed superior top-pairing center depth on their best day. The team tried to repair the relationship, but it wasn't to do so to retain them both. I'm guessing they exhausted all options because I'm guessing they did not want to trade J.T. Miller and they probably didn't want to trade Petey either. - Ryan Kesler Since the trade, Miller has thrived in New York, yet <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/vancouver-canucks/embarrassing-stat-emerges-showing-the-canucks-traded-the-wrong-guy' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Pettersson continues to be inconsistent in Vancouver.</a> <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/GinoHard_/status/1896646795612262843'> </a></blockquote></div> Other trades are probably heading down the pipe before this Friday's trade deadline. But if one remembers this season in years to come, what will be remembered is the Miller-Pettersson saga.