The Vancouver Canucks have announced that center J.T. Miller will be taking an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons. General manager Patrik Allvin expressed the team's commitment to supporting Miller during this time, stating, 'Right now, our sole focus is making sure that J.T. knows the entire organization is here to support him.' The Canucks opted not to provide further comments out of respect for Miller's privacy.
Miller is currently in his sixth season with the Canucks and his thirteenth in the National Hockey League. He has recorded six goals and ten assists for a total of sixteen points in seventeen games this season. His most recent performance saw him skate for a season-low of 11:41 during a match against the Nashville Predators, where the Canucks suffered a 5-3 defeat. Following a late goal by teammate Kiefer Sherwood, which brought the score within one, Miller did not return to the ice for the remainder of the game, leading head coach Rick Tocchet to suggest that Miller was not positioned to aid in a comeback effort, stating, 'Didn't think he was one of the guys that could get us back in the game.'
As the top-line center, Miller has provided valuable experience alongside forwards Pius Suter and rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki. His absence may prompt Elias Pettersson to assume the first-line center role, subsequently testing the Canucks' depth in that position, as well as impacting the team's power play and penalty kill units. Currently, Miller is playing in the second season of a seven-year, $56 million contract with the Canucks. Notably, he surpassed the 100-point mark for the first time in his career last season, helping the team reach the second round of the playoffs. Over the course of his tenure with Vancouver, Miller has tallied 269 assists in 381 regular-season games, which ranks tenth in the franchise's history.
