Mark Madden: Acquiring Canucks forward J.T. Miller would provide boost for Penguins

The Penguins have little cap space (just $3 million) and not much trade capital.

But the Penguins could use a boost before the March 21 NHL trade deadline. There’s always a deal to be made. That was Jim Rutherford’s attitude when he was Penguins GM.

He’s in charge at Vancouver now.

Current Penguins GM Ron Hextall should phone his predecessor and offer him winger Kasperi Kapanen.

Kapanen, a former first-round pick, has disappointed horribly in Pittsburgh. But Rutherford drafted him, then traded to get him back.

Dangle this year’s first-round draft pick, too. Right now, the Penguins would draft 28th. That’s a late selection. You won’t get Sidney Crosby.

Offer defensemen P.O Joseph, another former first-round selection. Rutherford acquired him for the Penguins from Arizona as the primary return in the Phil Kessel deal. Current Penguins management doesn’t seem to like Joseph. Rutherford does.

Use those assets to assemble some package to get forward J.T. Miller. (Miller played his youth hockey in Pittsburgh, but who cares?)

If it takes defenseman Marcus Pettersson or defenseman John Marino, consider that. (But there’s no ready replacement for Marino on the right side. Joseph could take Pettersson’s spot on the left. It would be a gamble.) Rutherford gave Pettersson and Marino big tickets.

Miller (6-foot-1, 208 pounds) can legitimately play any forward position. He’d fit nicely on Evgeni Malkin’s left wing.

He’s having a career season: 21 goals and 40 assists in 54 games. He’s topped 20 goals five times in his 10 NHL seasons.

Miller plays hard, plays 200 feet, and plays in all situations. He scores great goals and gritty goals.

As I describe Miller, it strikes me that perhaps the Penguins can’t offer enough to get him. The New York Rangers figure to come in with a better deal.

But Hextall should try. Rutherford can only say no, but that’s rarely been his style.

Miller, 28, is signed through next season. He carries a salary cap hit of $5.25 million. (Vancouver might have to absorb part of that for the rest of this season.)

That might seem a negative, because Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are free agents at season’s end. The Penguins need cap room to re-sign them.

But they’re not going to re-sign all of them, and maybe not any. (Malkin seems the best bet, and their priority. That’s a mistake. It should be Letang.)

Rust will leave. He’s going to get a contract approximating $36 million over six years.

So Hextall should play it like Rust is definitely gone. Get Miller for this year’s playoff run. Then Rust departs, but the Penguins still have Miller for next season. Miller is a more than capable replacement for Rust, perhaps superior.

It kicks the rebuilding can down the road for another year. The Penguins want to do that as long as possible.

As previously noted in this space, the Penguins seem stale.

That’s an odd accusation after Thursday’s 5-1 demolition of host Tampa Bay. The Penguins comprehensively destroyed the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Malkin led the charge with both skill and physicality, and his teammates followed.

But Thursday wasn’t the playoffs.

The Penguins will likely go into the postseason relatively unchanged from right now.

It’s still hard to get a read on Hextall. Every big move he’s made as GM since getting the job a little over a year ago has involved Jeff Carter, his buddy from when they were both in Los Angeles.

Coach Mike Sullivan should give forwards Radim Zohorna and Drew O’Connor a run of games.

The Penguins are 19 points clear in the race for a playoff spot. It’s a good time to experiment.

Zach Aston-Reese has one goal in 48 games, Dominik Simon three in 50.

Bottom-six forwards don’t have to score a lot. But they can’t never score.

The Penguins could also do with a burst of different-guy energy. That’s how you keep from getting stale.