Miller proving to be bargain for Canucks
After arriving in highly scrutinized swap, forward leads Canucks in scoring
When Jim Benning acquired J.T. Miller from the Tampa Bay Lightning in late June, there were two distinct reactions in Vancouver.
The first and most visceral came from a large chunk of the fan base that wondered aloud if Benning had lost his mind. Miller, they conceded, is an NHLer. But the price the Canucks general manager paid — a firstround pick, which is lottery protected for this year only, and a third-rounder in June’s draft — was outrageous for a team supposedly in rebuild mode.
Juxtaposed against that informed opinion, however, was a second reaction from the Canucks locker-room, which wasn’t as loud but was more relevant. Miller was a player who could help the team win right now, Canucks players said. That was the only point up for discussion.
First-rounder? Third-rounder? Who cares? That’s in the future. We need help today and this guy makes us a better team.
“I thought we had enough prospects in our pool,” Benning said of his rationale. “(The first-rounder) is still three years away from helping your team and that’s if he hits. I just thought the time was right for this deal.”
And for three weeks at least, it’s been all of that.
Miller has now been with the Canucks for nine games, but given everything that’s transpired, it feels like he’s been here nine seasons. He leads the Canucks in scoring with 10 points while fitting seamlessly alongside Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. He’s been a factor on the power play with his net-front presence and a factor five-on-five, where his intelligent two-way game helps drive the Canucks offence.
In the room, he’s fit comfortably within the team’s culture, a respected veteran whose voice carries some weight.
All told, that’s a pretty good player and while it will take those three years referenced by Benning to measure the trade accurately, the point is the Canucks will have three years of Miller before the scales are brought out.
“Those guys don’t care about (the first-rounder) and I don’t blame them,” head coach Travis Green said. “He’s a big part of our team now.”
Bo Horvat agrees.
“It was an eye-opener to see how skilled he was and how hard he worked,” Horvat said. “I can’t say enough about him. He’s just fit in really well.”
Miller seems to be reclaiming the territory in Vancouver he lost last year in Tampa — and therein lies a story. Now in his eighth NHL season, the 26-year-old Ohio native had six largely productive seasons with the Rangers before the Lightning acquired him with Ryan McDonagh in a blockbuster at the 2018 deadline.
In Tampa, Miller had some immediate success playing on a line with Steve Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in the Bolts’ run to the Eastern Conference final.
But last season, he found himself in a bottom-six role and finished with 47 points, his lowest total in three seasons, largely because Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde emerged as offensive players. With Tampa facing cap pressure, Miller was put on the auction block.
Benning said the Canucks were one of four teams in the Miller sweepstakes.
“They were asking for more than we gave up,” Benning said. “I don’t like trading first-round picks, but I thought this was the right guy.”
It has helped that Miller was a motivated player when he arrived in Vancouver. He’s aware of the perception he created last season in Tampa and while he disputes it, he said he came to the Canucks with a singular focus.
“Last year, (the Lightning) told me I was going to play on a role line and I had to buy into that,” Miller said. “With that ice time, the production isn’t going to correlate. I thought I had a really good year last year. It just wasn’t on the stats sheet.
“I kind of came in with a chip on my shoulder. Hopefully the rest will take care of itself.”
So far, no complaints. Miller doesn’t play a flashy game, but it’s heavy, it’s efficient and it’s professional. Pettersson said that makes him easy to play with and Miller’s experience also factors into the equation with his younger linemates.
“It felt good from the first practice,” said Pettersson.
Miller said his new teammates are “really high-end guys and they’re going to find a lot of things out on their own. But there are a couple of things I’ve learned along the way from some great veterans (that) I can pass on.”
On top of everything else, Miller has a user-friendly contract, which pays him US$5.25 million per year over the next four years. Yes, it’s still early days for the player and the team and the Canucks won’t know for sure what they have and what they gave up until Miller’s deal expires.
But they’re OK with the early returns. So is the guy they gave up so much to land.
“It’s been unreal for me and my family,” Miller said. “We feel very welcome here already.
“I think once you start playing games, you find out about each other. You learn how competitive your team is and how good it can be. I thought we came together on that last road trip. I think it’s only going to get better as we get to know each other.”
And we get to know him.