Vancouver Canucks: J.T. Miller proving his worth early on

Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller has been a pleasant surprise so far. It’s early in the season, but he’s already proving his worth.

When J.T. Miller was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Marek Mazanec, a 2019 third-round pick and first-round pick in either 2020 or 2021, Vancouver Canucks fans were divided by it.

Some fans liked the trade. Others didn’t. The problem wasn’t the acquisition of Miller, it was the fact that general manager Jim Benning threw in a firs- round pick.  Many questioned whether or not Miller was worth such a hefty price.

Nine games into the season (at the time of this writing) Miller has been one of the best Canucks forwards. So far he has been fantastic and is starting to prove the doubters wrong.

Lotto line success

Miller started off with Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson on the Canucks second line. But after two losses in Alberta, head coach Travis Green decided to change things up. He bumped Micheal Ferland down to the second line and moved Miller to the first line.  That’s when things started to click. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser became the so-called “Lotto Line” as named by fellow The Canuck Way writer Jacob Calvert.

Miller provided offence with Pettersson and Boeser. He has been feeding them with passes in the slot, helping out along the boards with his strong board play and doing some scoring himself.  He provides size with his 6-foot-1, 218-pound frame, and  hecan win puck battles easily. Miller, Pettersson and Boeser have been a dominant trio to watch at even strength and on the power play.

With and without Miller

I found this chart from Micah Blake Mccurdy of HockeyViz.Com

It’s quite intriguing that each listed player’s score adjusted shots/60 (for) went up drastically. These names include Pettersson, Boeser, Pearson and Quinn Hughes.  However SAS/60 For went up for guys like Chris Tanev, Troy Stecher, Tyler Myers and Jordie Benn. That means a bunch of players are benefiting from playing with Miller:

Can Miller’s success continue?

Miller’s early success has many Canucks fans  warming up to him, and he already looks to be worthy of a first-round pick price tag. The question now is will his success continue? If the Canucks want to make the playoffs, Miller will be one of the keys to it. If he disappears for a long stretch, it’ll hurt their playoff hopes.

It’s still early (and this might not age well), but I do think Miller’s success is sustainable. He can get at least 20 goals 40 points by the end of the season.

Miller is a versatile forward who can play in any game situation and can provide secondary scoring, something the Canucks have been lacking for several years. I’m becoming a big fan of Miller and his game, and he certainly looks to be worthy of a first-round pick.