Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin was apparently given a warning about JT Miller and how to handle him, according to former Canuck Brad Richardson.
While the drama surrounding Canucks centre Elias Pettersson and now-New York Rangers centre JT Miller has obviously cooled off, the feeling that something could have been done ahead of time to help the issue still lingers in the conversations on the matter. Richardson certainly added to that feeling with the information he revealed on the Missin’ Curfew podcast on Wednesday.
Brad Richardson told Patrik Allvin in his exit meeting with the #Canucks to surround JT Miller with veteran players to get the most out of him #MissinCurfew Ep 360 | @DKNetwork @DKSportsbook | #DKPartner pic.twitter.com/MVXqLoxJDX
— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) February 5, 2025
“I love JT Miller. He’s a great guy. I’d take him on my team,” Richardson said on the podcast. “But I told [Allvin], you’ve got to surround a guy like JT Miller with veteran players, or you’re going to be f–ked.
“That’s how you calm JT Miller down. You’ve got to have a veteran group that knows how to settle him down at the right times when he gets a little off the rails because he does. If you get him dialed in, he’s an unbelievable player, and he’s a great guy, but he needs veteran guys around him, or he gets squirrely.”
The Canucks haven’t exactly been loaded with veteran players this season, with only six players over the age of 30 dressing for the team and only Tyler Myers and Derek Forbort being older than Miller. The Canucks have had plenty of veterans come through during Miller’s tenure, but since the team was actively trying to get younger for a majority of that time, many of them were traded or allowed to walk in free agency.
Miller was traded to the Rangers last Friday in a deal that also sent Erik Brännström and Jackson Dorrington to Broadway in exchange for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a conditional first-round pick in 2025.
The American forward has 11 goals and 39 points in 43 games this season, including nine goals and 35 points in 40 games with the Canucks and two goals and four points in three games since joining the Rangers.
Richardson had multiple stints with the Canucks. First from 2013 to 2015, and then again at the end of the 2021-22 season when he was claimed off of waivers. The 2021-22 season was the final season of his career and was when he crossed paths with Miller as a teammate.
