The Canucks need to reunite Miller with Pettersson when he’s healthy

Ever since Elias Pettersson went down with a mysterious upper-body injury earlier this month, many Vancouver Canucks fans have been impressed with J.T. Miller’s stint at centre.

In fact, a large portion of people wants Miller to remain up the middle and play on his own line even when Pettersson returns, including my co-editor and good friend Brayden Ursel, who wrote an article about that just yesterday.

However, Miller’s underlying stats suggest that he’s actually struggled quite a bit in Pettersson’s absence, which is why the two should be reunited once the Swedish phenom returns to the lineup.

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Since Vancouver’s 3-1 win over Toronto on March fourth — the first game that Pettersson missed — the Canucks have controlled shot attempts less than 42% of the time with Miller on the ice at five on five, according to Natural Stat Trick. Miller’s expected goals percentage is even uglier, sitting at an abysmal 38.94%.

To put that into context, those numbers are barely better than Jake Virtanen’s, a player whom fans have long wanted to see traded.

Miller’s struggles without Pettersson isn’t a new trend, either. On the season, he has a corsi of less than 41% when he hasn’t played with Pettersson and his expected goals percentage is a shocking 34.86% at five on five. That last figure would be the worst mark on the team by far for players who have logged over 100 total minutes at five on five this season, which just puts Miller’s struggles into perspective.

The root of Miller’s issues has largely come on the defensive side of the puck, as the Canucks concede 3.48 expected goals against per 60 minutes at five on five when he plays without Pettersson.

Of course, Miller does shoulder some of the team’s toughest minutes and faces off against great competition every night, but that shouldn’t be used to excuse those atrocious numbers, especially when he showed his two-way capabilities last season.

So no, Miller shouldn’t stay at centre when Pettersson comes back since the Lotto Line needs to be reunited for the best results. But what do you think, Canucks fans? Do you agree with my assessment of Miller’s play? Let us know in the comments below!