Hanging around in the lobby at the Jack Burger Sports Complex, the recent hot topic for conversation is the fate of the Port Hope Predators’ leading scorer, Tyler Miller.

Miller, who is 15-34-49 in 26 games and eighth overall in Ontario Junior Hockey League scoring, has requested a trade to his home league, the Superior International Junior A Hockey League (SIJHL) in the Thunder Bay region.

The 20-year-old forward, who hails from Fort Frances, Ont., is in his third season with the Predators. After a trip home last month, he decided to ask for the trade. The SIJHL is hosting the Dudley Hewitt Cup this season, and Miller would like to be a part of the festivities.

However, he must wait for a team to make a reasonable offer for him before he goes anywhere.

“The guys in Fort Frances have made a big effort to satisfy our needs,” Predators director of hockey operations Tim Clayden said Monday. “But the players they’ve offered just aren’t what we’re looking for. The Thunder Bay Bearcats, it’s been brought to our attention by Tyler’s aunt, that they also have made considerable offers. But we’re not there yet.”

Clayden embarked on a scouting mission last week to Thunder Bay where he took in some games and got to see potential new Predators, but nothing the teams offered seemed to fit with Port Hope’s needs.

“I like Tyler, we like Tyler, and I have no hard feelings. I understand that he wants to go home, and I’m doing my best to accommodate his wishes. But I have a responsibility to the other 22 guys in the dressing room that are committed to being here, and that want to win a championship, and as well to help promote them through furthering their hockey careers. I have to do what I think is best for them,” Clayden said.

The pressure is on, since all teams must cut their rosters from 35 to 25 players by Dec. 1.

“We haven’t been able to make a deal yet,” Clayden said. “There’s teams in the B.C. league that have expressed interest, but Tyler wants to go home and no teams have made an offer. December 1 is coming, and I think we’ll get him moved. At this point it almost has to be a three-way deal. Here’s a good one, the Thunder Bay Bearcats have a 19-year old defenceman that we’re very interested in, but they’re reluctant to make him available. If they did, we’d get a deal done overnight. Right now, though, with the deals that are on the table, it’ll have to be a three-way.”

The defender has a friend on the Predators and is interested in migrating south for the winter, but his team is not moving. Clayden said it may take up until midnight on Dec. 1 to get anyone to budge.

With starting goaltender Akos Agardy still recovering from a serious groin injury and Miller’s departure on the horizon at the halfway mark of the season, there are some skeptics.

“A lot of people assume because we’re losing Tyler Miller, that we’re packing it in. If we added the right pieces to the puzzle and another goaltender, we’re just as good as anybody in our division. Just because Tyler is leaving we’re not throwing the towel in.”

While Miller's future is currently up in the air, unless the Bearcats put the aforementioned blueliner on the table, one good thing came out of Clayden's trip north.

Agardy’s return is speculated for January but it could come later. Port Hope’s management and coaching staff do not want to play him until he is fully recovered and then some. Clayden, in the meantime, said he has found a minor hockey goalie looking for someone to take a chance on him.

“Ryan (Fitzsimmons, the Preds AP Junior B goaltender who has been helping Spencer Finney for the last few weeks) will be moving on to do what he wants to do and we’ll be bringing in another young man who wants to show what he can do at this level,” Clayden said.

Clayden came across the young netminder, Mike Mitchell, while rekindling a friendship with the Fort William (Thunder Bay) North Stars.

“When the North Stars came to the Dudley Hewitt Cup when I was in North Bay, we became friends, and I had a chance to see a young AAA goalie who has been champing at the bit. He wants to show his stuff. I don’t know if he’ll fit in here, but we’ll give him a chance to show what he can do. A very well-known and well-liked guy by the name of Gary Cook that passed away not too long ago used to be the head of that organization, and his right hand man, Todd Howard, who is their GM/coach, was very nice to me. They were first class, and made someone from out of town feel welcome in their community, and I know Gary would be proud of how things are running in his absence.”

Born in 1991, Mitchell is a six-foot-one and 195-pound goalie who catches left and suited up for the Thunder Bay AAA Kings last season.