J.T. Miller is far enough removed from his Canucks exit now that he can laugh at the mess - at least a little.
That wasn’t the case when the whole thing was still tearing through Vancouver. The 2024-25 season for the Canucks was defined by the feud between Miller and Elias Pettersson, a situation that helped derail the club’s short-lived Stanley Cup hopes and eventually ended with Miller being dealt to the New York Rangers on Jan. 31, 2025.
For a long stretch, neither side said much about what went on. Pettersson sidestepped questions right after the trade. Miller, for his part, later described the year as “exhausting” and “a year I’d like to forget about.”
But on a recent appearance on Spittin’ Chiclets’ “Sandbagger Scramble” show, Miller showed a different side. He was out on the course with hosts Paul Bissonnette, Ryan Whitney and Keith Yandle, along with Vincent Trocheck and Mark Pysyk, when the conversation veered straight into the Canucks drama.
Bissonnette didn’t waste time.
“I’m getting bullied more than Petey on the Canucks,” Bissonnette said while Miller was in the middle of a swing.
Miller’s answer came immediately.
“In my backswing is crazy,” Miller said about the timing of Bissonnette’s chirp.
“That was so dirty,” Trocheck said.
Miller kept it going.
“Petey in my backswing is crazy,” Miller said.
Then came the line that got everyone laughing.
“I went to rehab for that,” Miller added, which caused everyone to burst into laughter. “Dude, they had no minibar.”
The joke landed as a strange little window into a situation that still feels unfinished. Miller’s 10-game leave of absence in November 2024 remains one of the biggest unanswered pieces of the story. The Canucks told the media not to ask about it out of respect for Miller, and the clearest explanation that ever surfaced was from former GM Patrik Allvin, who said Miller was “seeking help.”
“First and foremost, I’m very proud of J.T. seeking help,” Allvin said almost one week after Miller’s mysterious departure.
“I believe that he’s going to be a better person, better teammate and better hockey player when he returns.”
At the time, reports said the absence was not related to substance or alcohol issues, but that did little to quiet the speculation. With so few details available, rumors spread quickly online about why Miller was away and whether a trade was coming.
That’s when Jim Rutherford publicly pushed back.
“Don’t start making stuff up about someone in his situation. That’s disrespectful,” he said back on Dec.
4, 2024. “People that do this for fun, or for a living, just go back to making up trade rumours.”
Rutherford also said the Canucks were not trading Miller.
Eight weeks later, they did.
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