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J.T. Miller now able to joke about Pettersson feud from his Canucks days

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
|
Aug 27 2026, 10:15 pm
J.T. Miller now able to joke about Pettersson feud from his Canucks days
Bob Frid/Imagn Images

It was the feud that rocked the entire NHL. And in turn, it basically ended the Vancouver Canucks’ short-lived Stanley Cup aspirations.

The Canucks’ 2024-25 season was dominated by the J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson feud. It ended in Miller being traded to the New York Rangers on Jan. 31, 2025.

Neither player has said much about what actually happened. Pettersson danced around it immediately after the trade, while Miller called it “exhausting” and “a year I’d like to forget about.”

But now that some time has passed, Miller is seemingly a bit more relaxed about the ordeal.

Relaxed enough to even crack a joke, perhaps.

Miller was recently on Spittin’ Chiclets ‘Sandbagger Scramble’ show, where hosts Paul Bissonnette, Ryan Whitney and Keith Yandle went against Miller, Vincent Trocheck and Mark Pysyk in a round of golf.

It didn’t take long for Bissonnette to crack a joke about Pettersson.

“I’m getting bullied more than Petey on the Canucks,” Bissonnette said while Miller was in the middle of a swing.

“In my backswing is crazy,” Miller said about the timing of Bissonnette’s chirp.

“That was so dirty,” Trocheck said.

“Petey in my backswing is crazy,” Miller said.

“I went to rehab for that,” Miller added, which caused everyone to burst into laughter. “Dude, they had no minibar.”

It was an ambiguous and curious response to Bissonnette’s chirp that opens up more questions about what actually happened between Miller and Pettersson.

Questions still linger about Miller’s 10-game leave of absence from the team for personal reasons back in November of 2024. The media was told not to ask about it, out of respect for Miller. All we really know is that Miller was “seeking help,” according to former GM Patrik Allvin.

“First and foremost, I’m very proud of J.T. seeking help,” Allvin said almost one week after Miller’s mysterious departure.

“I believe that he’s going to be a better person, better teammate and better hockey player when he returns.”

It was reported at the time that the absence wasn’t substance- or alcohol-related. But that didn’t subdue the public’s curiosity.

With very little information surrounding his absence, online rumours ran rampant about reasons for his leave and whether or not he was going to be traded.

That prompted Rutherford to step in and come to Miller’s defence.

“Don’t start making stuff up about someone in his situation. That’s disrespectful,” he said back on Dec. 4, 2024. “People that do this for fun, or for a living, just go back to making up trade rumours.”

Rutherford also added that the Canucks weren’t trading Miller. Eight weeks later, Miller was traded.

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