J.T. Miller is back skating, Canucks return date TBD
J.T. Miller is back skating, and that’s good news for the Vancouver Canucks.
While he hasn’t rejoined his teammates at practice yet, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal is reporting that Miller was skating with Canucks skills coach Jason Krog.
“J.T. Miller is skating this week on his own… so that is a good sign. J.T. Miller was on the ice yesterday,” Dhaliwal said on Thursday’s edition of Donnie and Dhali.
We still don’t know much about Miller’s personal leave, which took effect on November 19. We do know that Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford wasn’t pleased with recent rumours about him.
āDonāt start making stuff up on someone in his situation. Thatās disrespectful,ā Rutherford told Patrick Johnston of Postmedia. Rutherford added that the team isn’t trading Miller, which is seemingly in response to a report that the New York Rangers had called about the 31-year-old centre.
"J.T. Miller is skating this week.."@DhaliwalSports shared what he is hearing about J.T. Miller and a possible return.https://t.co/h4e2SKM7eJ pic.twitter.com/Ngp9BxSTL2
— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) December 5, 2024
The Canucks have managed to pick up points without Miller, posting a 4-2-1 record in seven games without him. All those points came on the road, where the Canucks seem to be most comfortable this season.
Vancouver has the third-best road record (10-2-1) in the league, yet their home record ranks 30th. Only the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks have worse home records than the Canucks, who are 3-5-3 at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks need that to change soon as they stare down a six-game homestand that begins Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.