More examples emerge of why J.T. Miller is such a great leader for Canucks

We shared a theory during last week, in the aftermath of the brief but heated clash between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson during Wednesday's practice. More specifically, that as one of the leaders on the Canucks, Miller was possibly just trying to light a fire under Pettersson, to help him find a way to get out of his funk and back to his usual productive self.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman would subsequently add credence to our theory -- in a manner of speaking -- during Friday's episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. Friedman explained how the Canucks were attempting to help Pettersson step up his game and become tougher, through the players' leadership group which includes Miller. (Quinn Hughes was another player mentioned.)

Canucks fans were already well aware of how crucial Miller is, in his leadership role for the team as alternate captain to Hughes. However, now we can offer a couple of other examples which only reinforce his qualities, while also proving what a classy guy he is.

Miller helps in honouring Myers

One example comes from Saturday night, ahead of the matchup with the Penguins at Rogers Arena. As The Canucks Way's Jonathan Baily wrote, the Canucks honoured veteran defenceman Tyler Myers in his first home game since reaching 1,000 NHL games when he played against the Flyers in Philadelphia.

In respect of Miller, he asked if he could give up his role as assistant captain for the night and let Myers take over. As per the team's X account on social media, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said: "Millsy went to the trainers and the trainers asked me if it was okay and I said ‘yeah.' I thought it was a great gesture by Millsy, to give it to his buddy."

It was a simple thing for Miller to do, but it was also a nice touch by the 31-year-old. It's little gestures like this which speak volumes about how seriously he takes his role as a leader on the team, only further helping to strengthen the loyalty and camaraderie amongst the players.

However, it turns out these types of classy gestures to other players, are not limited to his own team. Consider an article posted on Friday, written by Sportsnet's Eric Francis.

A scary moment in the home opener

Francis' article relates to a hit by Miller on Kevin Rooney of the Calgary Flames, early in the season opener. Afterwards, Rooney lay on his back without moving for what seemed like an eternity, before finally -- and thankfully -- getting up and being helped off the ice.

The Flames forward would go on to miss five games as part of the concussion protocol before returning, and Miller understandably felt terrible about what happened. As such, he contacted Rooney via text the day after the unfortunate hit.

As per Francis, Rooney said it meant a lot that Miller had reached out to him. He said: "It was a little bit of an apology and an explanation on how he saw the play. He said he didn’t want to injure me. He loves battling against me — we’ve had some battles dating back to when I was in Jersey and we used to go at it a little bit, nothing crazy. And I think he’s got a lot of respect for me and how I’ve come up through the league."

The Canucks' 2024 NHL All-Star was asked last week by Sportsnet, about why he decided to reach out to Rooney. He said: "I just don’t like seeing people hurt like that. I’ve tried to play within the rules pretty much my whole career. But you still don’t want to see something like that. And I respect him a lot as a player — he works really hard."

Overall, Miller continues to find ways to impress people around the league, extending beyond his productivity in games. (He is tied for the team lead with seven points through seven games.) Leadership is such a vital part of what helps make a team successful, and the Canucks are lucky in this respect to have one of the very best leaders in the NHL.

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