Former Canuck Nikita Zadorov sticks up for J.T. Miller: 'It wasn't his fault'
Nikita Zadorov only played 67 games with the Vancouver Canucks, but the 6’7″ defenceman made a big impression.
And one of his Canucks teammates made a big impression on him.
Zadorov appeared on the Cam & Strick Podcast this week and was asked about the drama in Vancouver surrounding Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, which he quickly dismissed.
“That’s the media,” said Zadorov. “People who still think J.T.’s a bad teammate, go watch Spittin’ Chiclets‘ golf video, please, and then tell me.”
Miller joked about his alleged feud with Pettersson on Spittin’ Chiclets, quipping, “I went to rehab for that,” when Paul Bissonnette chirped him about bullying Pettersson.
Zadorov is clearly a big fan of Miller.
“He’s one of my best teammates I’ve had,” said Zadorov, before admitting that Miller can rub some people the wrong way. “Yeah, sometimes he’s too straightforward, and sometimes he has bad days, and he’s a little bit grumpy, but that’s J.T., we love him.”
For Zadorov, it’s all about who Miller was on the ice.
“He’s going to go on the ice, and he’s going to die for you,” said Zadorov. “That’s all that matters. He’s a great teammate, he’s competitive, he wants to win. It just pisses me off when people make it like it’s his fault over there. It wasn’t his fault.”
It’s worth noting that Zadorov’s perspective comes largely from the 2023-24 season, when things were going quite well for the Canucks. The team finished first in the Pacific Division, largely on the back of a 103-point season from Miller, and were one win away from the Western Conference Finals.
Zadorov became a fan favourite in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where he came through with a few clutch goals and massive hits.
After that playoff run, however, Zadorov and the Canucks couldn’t come to terms, in a process Zadorov described as “disrespectful.”
That means Zadorov wasn’t with the Canucks for the past two seasons when the drama reached a fever pitch in Vancouver. Still, he believes he and the rest of the hockey world see the situation in Vancouver the same way.
“People who are in the hockey world know that too,” he said, “but then you have 16-year-old idiots sitting on Twitter and tweeting out that sh*t, so it’s all getting blown up right now. The problem right now is everybody thinks they have a voice, and then they use it, and then everybody should care about that voice.”