from Sean McIndoe of Grantland,

The NHL offseason isn’t a scripted TV show. (We know this because scripted TV shows don’t go weeks at a time with absolutely nothing happening.) But that hasn’t stopped this year’s edition from featuring its share of abandoned story lines.

Here are five subplots that seemed like they’d be important pieces of the 2013 offseason but (so far) have turned out to be duds.

The Ryan Miller trade watch

Miller entered the offseason as one of the league’s most intriguing potential trade targets. Despite an off year — he was 17-17-5 and posted the highest goals-against average of his career as a full-time starter — Miller is still generally considered to be among the league’s top goaltenders. He’s just three years removed from a 2010 season that saw him win the Vezina and nearly lead the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal. He hasn’t dominated since then, but he’s been consistently solid, posting save percentages over the last three years of .916, .916, and .915.

He’s also entering the last year of his contract, and at 33 years old, may not have much interest in sticking around for what could be a lengthy rebuild in Buffalo. So it was no surprise when his name surfaced in trade rumors, first at last season’s deadline and then again heading into the offseason.

And then … nothing happened. The market for Miller never really seemed to heat up, and it now looks like he’ll be headed to training camp as a Sabre.

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