It’s been a tough 24 hours for Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller.
The veteran was benched for nearly the entire third period of last night’s 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators. Head coach Rick Tocchet made it clear post-game that the decision was based solely on the centre’s performance.
But is the assistant captain banged up and not in full health? It seems that way from a variety of reports today.
“It is very clear he has got a lingering injury. He is not 100%. Some think it’s a shoulder injury or in that area,” said CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal on Donnie & Dhali today.
That is not the only information suggesting Miller is still dealing with a lingering ailment.
“As I understand it, and have reported, Miller’s been dealing with one thing or another all season (at one point I think there were three things at once),” wrote Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston on Bluesky.
The 31-year-old has missed practices this season but the team has not revealed the exact nature of the injuries. Not many specifics are known regarding the situation, but it does appear that he’s hurt.
Besides the lingering injury, Miller has been forced to play without regular linemate Brock Boeser recently. The duo has a lot of chemistry and Miller has struggled to perform at his best without his injured linemate.
Despite all the adversity, Miller has 16 points in 17 games this season. Those are solid numbers but he needs to be more engaged defensively and help drive play for the Canucks to reach their full potential.