Ex-Vancouver Canucks player says he warned Allvin about Miller
The J.T. Miller era is officially over for the Vancouver Canucks. The winger was traded last Friday, and with that deal, years of rumours and speculation ended.
Now that Miller’s gone, that doesn’t mean the noise has disappeared. The talk has turned to diagnosing what went wrong between the Canucks and Miller and how this promising team fell apart.
One former teammate has an idea of what went wrong. Brad Richardson had two stints with the Canucks, the first coming from 2013 to 2015, before rejoining in 2022. He ended his career that year before moving into a scouting role with the Calgary Flames.
Richardson explained today that when leaving the Canucks in 2022, he told Patrik Allvin what needed to happen to get the most from Miller.
“I love J.T. Miller. He’s a great guy. I’d take him on my team. But I told [Allvin], you’ve got to surround a guy like J.T. Miller with veteran players, or you’re going to be f**ked,” said Richardson on the Missin Curfew podcast.
“That’s how you calm J.T. Miller down. You’ve got to have a veteran group that knows how to settle him down at the right times when he gets a little off the rails because he does. If you get him dialled in, he’s an unbelievable player, and he’s a great guy, but he needs veteran guys around him, or he gets squirrely.”
Brad Richardson told Patrik Allvin in his exit meeting with the #Canucks to surround JT Miller with veteran players to get the most out of him #MissinCurfew Ep 360 | @DKNetwork @DKSportsbook | #DKPartner pic.twitter.com/MVXqLoxJDX
— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) February 5, 2025
Over the past few seasons, the Canucks have allowed several strong veteran voices to leave. They lost Ian Cole and Nikita Zadorov alone this past summer. Add that to guys like Tanner Pearson, Bo Horvat, and Luke Schenn, and many big voices have left the room.
While they still have veteran leaders, such as Conor Garland, Tyler Myers, and others, they have fewer than in past seasons.
The issues with Miller and the Canucks were mainly off the ice and in the dressing room. His feud with co-star Elias Pettersson became a dominant storyline and reached a tipping point this season, perhaps partially because of the lack of veteran leaders in the room.
The recent acquisition of Marcus Pettersson brings in another vocal leader who is a good fit in the dressing room. He’s already earned praise from Rick Tocchet and his teammates for his leadership skills.