Former Rangers forward remains mum on leave of absence, has 2 points in Canucks return
J.T. Miller refused to shed light on his 10-game leave of absence, but did provide a spark for the Vancouver Canucks in his return to the lineup Thursday.
The former New York Rangers forward contributed two assists in a 4-0 Canucks win against the Florida Panthers at Rogers Place.
“He’s arguably one of the best players in the League. He’s a big part of our team,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “That’s hard to do what he did after not playing for a month, come in get a couple points, played him against [Aleksander] Barkov. He’s a big guy in the middle.”
Miller had the primary assist on a Brock Boeser goal 4:53 into the second period that made it 3-0. He added a secondary helper on Jake DeBrusk’s power-play goal in the third period that closed out the scoring.
Despite missing 10 games, Miller is fourth on the Canucks with 12 assists and sixth with 18 points, in 18 games played. Vancouver was 5-3-2 without him in the lineup and is fourth in the Pacific Division with 35 points (15-8-5).
Miller said he watched some Canucks games during his leave but was unaware of the hometown fans chanting his name at games in his absence.
“I’m pretty out of the loop on it, but I’m sure whatever it was, I appreciate it,” Miller said prior to the game.
Related: Relentless rookie Brett Berard earning his playing time with Rangers
Former Rangers forward won’t ‘dive into reasons’ for his leave of absence from Canucks
Ironically, it was prior to a game against the Rangers that Miller took his leave of absence from the Canucks on Nov. 19. “Personal reasons” were cited for the decision, and the Canucks simply stated they pledged their full support to Miller.
Trade rumors picked up steam the past month, and Canucks president Jim Rutherford angrily shot those down recently.
Upon returning Thursday, Miller remained mum on the exact reason why he took time away from the Canucks. He informed a horde of reporters that he won’t answer any questions about the leave.
“I am playing tonight, and I really would appreciate if we just stayed away from the reasons why I wasn’t here from all of you guys,” Miller stated. “You can ask all you want, but I’m not going to dive into the reasons why I wasn’t here the last three or four weeks. I’m here with the team, and I am ready to look forward to what’s going to happen in the future, not necessarily what has happened in the past. So, I know you guys are going to ask no matter what, but I’m just going to say I’m not talking about it.”
When asked if he’d be committed to play with the his typical passion and intensity, Miller said he didn’t want to answer that question because it “toed the line” too closely about why he took a leave in the first place.
The Rangers selected Miller in the first round (No. 15) of the 2011 NHL Draft. He played all or part if six seasons with the Rangers, and helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, when they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
Miller appeared in 30 games that season, and in four Stanley Cup Playoff games, before taking on a larger role the next four seasons. He helped the Rangers win the Presidents’ Trophy in 2014-15 and scored 22 goals in consecutive seasons beginning in 2015-16. Miller was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning ahead of the 2018 NHL trade deadline, after the infamous Letter regarding New York’s rebuild was sent to the Blueshirts Faithful.
He was traded to the Canucks ahead of the 2019-20 season and has flourished with them. He scored 27 goals his first season and has three-straight 30-goal seasons heading into 2024-25. Miller set NHL career highs with 37 goals and 103 points last season, when he finished ninth in the League’s scoring race.
Despite the recent issues, Miller, who’s in the third season of a seven-year, $56 million contract he signed with Vancouver before the start of the 2022-23 season, will play for the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
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