"I want to win in Vancouver": J.T. Miller speaks passionately on Canucks' path forward
J.T. Miller had 56 million reasons to re-sign with the Vancouver Canucks.
But money is never the only factor when an NHL player commits seven years to a franchise.
On Tuesday, when speaking to Vancouver media for the first time since signing his new contract extension, Miller explained his decision.
The 29-year-old, who is seeking his first Stanley Cup after watching many of his ex-Tampa Bay Lightning teammates win two of them recently, said he believes he can win with the Canucks.
“I want to be in Vancouver and I love this group of guys, and I want to win in Vancouver,” Miller said from his off-season home near Pittsburgh, via Zoom. “I still believe that we have the team that could do it there. Every single year that our group’s there, we’re just going to get better and better.”
warmed my heart to hear JT Miller talking passionately about #Canucks and hockey
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) September 6, 2022
Miller has done more losing than winning since he arrived in Vancouver in 2019. After making the playoffs in 2020, the Canucks have missed the postseason in back-to-back years.
But while the team hasn’t exactly flourished in the last three years, Miller’s career has blossomed.
When Miller first arrived in Vancouver, he was pencilled in as Bo Horvat’s winger on the second line. He quickly established himself as a first-line winger with Elias Pettersson and is now widely considered the Canucks’ No. 1 centre.
Miller has led the Canucks in scoring in two of the last three years, and his 99-point season in 2021-22 ranks seventh all-time among the highest-scoring seasons in franchise history.
He has 217 points in 202 games since debuting for the Canucks in 2019 — well ahead of Quinn Hughes, who ranks second on the team during that span, with 162 points in 200 games.
While Miller may have enjoyed playing closer to home, the Ohio native spoke about the relationships he’s built in three seasons in Vancouver as another reason for staying put.
But he also thinks his team will turn heads on the ice.
“We have good relationships with a lot of the players and wives, and I still think we have a good hockey team,” Miller said of his decision. “I know we missed the playoffs and you look at the grand scheme of things, I thought we played a really good season after a certain point last year. Can we be better? No doubt… I think we’re going to hit the ground running and surprise a lot of people this year.”
“I want to be where we’re going to have a good hockey team, and we have a lot of good things to be excited about in Vancouver. I’m a family guy, and I like to spend time at home, but it doesn’t really matter how far away that is at this point. I just want to win and I want to be in a place where we feel comfortable, and we have good relationships, and we kind of fell off three of those there.”
Miller wants to be better defensively
The Canucks have a few new additions at forward this season, but currently have the same group of defencemen that finished last season. Miller spoke about the importance of team defence, but also highlighted another area for improvement: his own defensive game.
“I’d like to give up less to get more. Look at some of my favourite players around the league and they play in their own end first, 200-foot all the time, and very hard to play against. I want to excel to that level… be equally as hard to play against in my own end as I am on the offensive end, and I don’t feel like it is right now.
“That’s something I’m really going to be working for. Team defence is so important… and I think if I can add that to my game, and then once we get it in the offensive zone, just do what comes natural for me is really going to help. So it’s a big focus of mine going into the season.”
Miller spoke about how much fun it was to win after Bruce Boudreau took over as head coach last season, but what he really wants to do is win playoff games.
That’s something a few of his Canucks teammates don’t have experience doing, at least not in front of fans.
“Playing in the regular season is great, but that’s not what we why we play. We want to get back to the playoffs and we want to win when it counts. For a lot of guys that haven’t played a playoff series in front of fans, it’s a different beast, and I think that it’s a contagious thing. That’s what’s so exciting about it you guys, I think the best you have to come.”
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