J.T. Miller's absence for Canucks not expected to be long-term

Hoping to build on the promising success of last season, it's instead been a slog so far in 2024-25 for the Vancouver Canucks. Despite a seemingly respectable 9-6-3 record that has the team right in playoff contention, nothing has come easy for coach Rick Tocchet and his players to date.

Certain key personnel has struggled to get going and play up to their capabilities, including the likes of Carson Soucy, Tyler Myers, Artūrs Šilovs and Elias Petersson. (Although at least Petersson now seems to be finally back on track.) There's also been injury issues for the likes of Brock Boeser, Derek Forbort and of course Thatcher Demko.

Surprising update on J.T.

As if to sum up the whole situation however, unexpected news came out on Tuesday, that J.T. Miller was taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. Announced by general manager Patrik Allvin, it was confirmed the leave was indefinite.

The decision to not expand further was absolutely the right thing for Allvin and the Canucks to do. Of course this didn't stop unsubstantiated theories being thrown out into the social media sphere, including nasty claims of an extramarital affair, and a fallout with Tocchet.

It should be noted there was speculation relating to Miller even before his leave of absence was announced. He has struggled at times himself with form this season, with some concern that he was being impacted by unconfirmed injury issues.

Back sooner than expected?

On the more positive side however, it would seem that Miller's absence will not be as long-term as was initially being feared by a lot people. At least that's the conclusion, if you read between the lines for a couple of the most recent reports.

First up, there were comments made by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, in Friday's edition of his popular 32 Thoughts column. The highly respected NHL insider said:

"Wishing J.T. Miller the best; don’t expect to see him until the Canucks return from a six-game road trip ending Dec. 3 at the earliest. It appears as if this is as much about “burnout” as anything else for one of the NHL’s most fiery players."

The other update relating to the 2024 NHL All-Star's absence comes from another highly respected source, in The Athletic's Thomas Drance (subscription required) on Friday. He said:

"While Miller’s absence is indefinite, he won’t be back in under seven days and isn’t expected to return to the lineup for the duration of this road trip at the very least."

More encouragement from Friedman

Now yes, neither of these updates provide a definitive timeline for Miller's return, other that to say he will not play in any of the Canucks' next six games on the road. However, the information does seem to allude to him being back sooner than later.

Friedman expanded further on the situation, during an appearance on Sportsnet 650, also on Friday. He said:

"The expectation here is he’ll hopefully -- and everybody hopes he’s okay -- hopefully he rejoins the team after the road trip"

We appreciate that even with these encouraging updates, nothing is certain in unpredictable circumstances such as this. As Friedman says, the most important things is that Miller is okay.

As with Demko and Boeser, it's important to not rush these things, and let the player decide himself when he's ready to return to action. Certainly there's no denying how important Miller is to the team, but the Canucks need him at his best when he does come back, to help their push for another playoff spot and more.

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