Vancouver Canucks' J.T. Miller Opens Up Regarding His On-Ice Struggles This Season
Photo credit: Vancouver Canucks - X.
Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller has opened up regarding his on-ice struggles this season following last night's loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Coming off the best season of his National Hockey League career in 2023-24 where he registered 103 points, expectations were sky-high for Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
Miller has struggled on the ice this season, which has led to a drastic decrease in ice time in recent days, with the star forward playing less than 15 minutes in each of the last three games.
It's been tough for Miller, who is a leader on this team and wants to be producing in whatever way possible to help the Canucks win games, but that hasn't been happening recently.
In his last five games, Miller hasn't recorded any points and has just five points since the calendar flipped to 2025, four of which came back on January 6th in an overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
After last night's game, Miller drew criticism from head coach Rick Tocchet, who said that it seems like bad things happen whenever the 31-year-old is on the ice, while sharing that his reads need to be better and that he's dealing with some bad luck right now.
"He's struggling. He's caught in between. You know, it seems like every time he's on the ice, something bad happens. I think he's got some bad luck, but he's also got some reads that he's got to - big pause - he's got to look at himself right now and focus on some of these reads. You can't dive in on the four-on-four, things like that. I think he's trying, [but] sometimes the focus level has to get a little higher." Tocchet said according to Tyson Cole of Canucks Army.
J.T. Miller opens up regarding his on-ice struggles
Miller spot with Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre following the loss last night, where he opened up about his struggles on the ice, saying that it's been hard and he's trying his best to be mentally strong.
He added that being a leader on the Canucks, the team expects him to play better and that's exactly what he's focusing on going forward.
"It's hard," Miller said Thursday night. "I'm trying to be mentally strong. And I think this is where your character shows, in moments like this. So today, my mindset was to work my ass off and see what happens. And I really still think I did that, but it's just costly mistakes right now. I just need to focus more.
It doesn't matter what I do, I'm on the wrong side right now, and it's on me. I'm a leader on the team, and the team expects me to be a lot better than this. So that's my focus."
It doesn't matter what I do, I'm on the wrong side right now, and it's on me. I'm a leader on the team, and the team expects me to be a lot better than this. So that's my focus."
J.T. Miller will have the opportunity to turn things around tomorrow night as the Vancouver Canucks host the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena, with puck drop set for just after 7 pm PT on Sportsnet and CBC.
Previously on CanucksDaily
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 17 | 517 ANSWERS Vancouver Canucks' J.T. Miller Opens Up Regarding His On-Ice Struggles This Season Will the Vancouver Canucks trade J.T. Miller this season? | ||
| Yes | 425 | 82.2 % |
| No | 92 | 17.8 % |
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