The Vancouver Canucks are experimenting with a new top line.
Conor Garland, Brock Boeser, and J.T. Miller have been skating together over the past few days as one of the team’s top trios. While Boeser and Miller usually always play together, the addition of Garland is new.
The 5-foot-10 winger was elevated to the line last game against the Bruins and stayed there yesterday at practice. Hearing the players discuss it, it seems like they’re excited for the combination’s potential.
“He’s just a relentless guy, he creates turnovers, and he’s highly skilled,” said Miller about Garland.
“He’s fun to play with…he’s really smart, he creates a ton of forechecking turnovers for us, and that’s obviously fun to play with a guy like that, so I look forward to it.”
Garland was no less glowing of Miller, who has three points in two games since returning from a lengthy personal break. In total, he has 19 points in 19 games.
“He really compliments everybody’s game; he’s a top player in the world. He’s one of the rare guys that can put up 100 points and be one of the leaders in the league of hits, face-offs,” said Garland.
“I think he’s just a tremendous player. He holds the puck, he makes plays, he can score. He’s hard to match up against. When he has the puck you just try and get open. When you have the puck, you’re obviously looking for him.”
Garland spent a few minutes gushing about his teammate before being asked if there was anything Miller couldn’t do. He had a quick response ready.
“He can’t putt, but besides that, he’s a fantastic player.”
Garland’s in the midst of an excellent season with 25 points in 29 games and was elevated into the top six earlier this year. While the two skaters mesh well on paper, how that works in reality has yet to be tested much. They have played a grand total of just over 39 five-on-five minutes as a duo this year. Growing pains are to be expected.
“I think me and him are still learning how to play with each other a little better,” continued Miller. “I think we both like having the puck below the hash marks. I thought we did a good job last time of recognizing when to go to a certain spot, not just going to our spots.”
They’ll have a tough test in their first contest as a trio. The Colorado Avalanche are visiting town, which means this line will likely see a lot of Nathan MacKinnon, one of the NHL’s top superstars.
“If you turn the puck over, they’re going to score more times than not,” said Miller. “You’ve got to take care of it; you’ve got to play them hard. If their night’s easy, they’re going to feel comfortable, and they’re too good to feel comfortable. We need to worry about ourself but at the same time recognize who you are on the ice against.”