VANCOUVER -- Patrik Allvin was asked if the Vancouver Canucks were better after the general manager traded top-line center J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers in the first of two deals on Friday night that resulted in two other players on the active roster leaving and four new players coming in.

In the first move, the Canucks shed one of the most productive players in franchise history due to locker room issues. They acquired a younger pivot and an intriguing blue-line prospect. They rented a high-value first-round pick for a couple of hours.

The center who got over the 100-point mark last year is heading from the Vancouver Canucks to the team that drafted Miller 15th overall in the 2011 NHL Draft. Will it be enough to make the Rangers a contender again, in a season in which they haven’t looked like the team that was so close to a Stanley Cup Final last year?