Tuesday night’s 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils saw J.T. Miller pick up three assists and extend his point streak to a career-high 13 games. Not only that, but he smashed his career-high of 72 points (27 goals, 45 assists) that he set during his first campaign with the Canucks in 2019-20. He now holds the league’s longest active point streak. Bruce Boudreau’s magic is not just working on the grinders.
That was Miller’s sixth three-point night of the season and the 22nd of his career. Needless to say, he is on fire. Miller is now only three games away from passing Petr Nedved and Todd Bertuzzi for the longest point streak in franchise history which sits at 15 games. Nedved recorded 24 points (15 goals, 9 assists) and Bertuzzi notched 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) during his run.
In recent memory, the last Canuck to have a point streak this high was when Henrik Sedin went on a 12-game tear during the 2013-14 season. During that time he put up just 14 points. Speaking of streaks, Miller has now tied Pavel Bure, Stan Smyl, and Ryan Kesler on the all-time board at 13. Kesler added his name to the list during the 2009-10 season and up until Miller, he was the last Canucks player to record a 13 game point streak.
Right now, Miller has an astounding 27 points (8 goals, 19 assists) during his 13 game streak. When looking at the franchise’s all-time point streak list, he has now passed Thomas Gradin (12 games, 26 points), is tied for second with Smyl (13 games, 27 points) and is now right behind Darcy Rota (14 games, 30 points).
At the pace Miller is at, all he needs is another three-point night against the Red Wings Thursday night to tie Rota for number one in the record book. Rota set that record in 1983 when he was placed on a line with Gradin and Smyl. He registered 15 goals and 15 assists during his streak. If Miller can surpass that feat, what an accomplishment that would be. Miller has 10 points against the Red Wings throughout his career, so there is certainly hope that he can get the job done.
It’s evident what type of elite talent Miller has to offer the Canucks, and there’s a reason that it’s seeming more and more like he won’t be traded. Nor should he. Simply put, the Canucks have not had a player of his calibre in almost a decade. Elite Prospects’ projected stats show Miller has the potential to borderline or surpass 100 points this season. The last time a Canucks forward recorded 100 points was in 2010-11 when Daniel Sedin recorded 104 points.
According to Dobber frozen tools, Miller’s season-wide analytics show his PTS/60 sitting at 3.6, his 5-on-5 s% is 8.5% and his xG% is 49.7%. So, how does that add up in comparison to Daniel Sedin’s crazy run? Well Sedin held a PTS/60 of 4.1, his 5-on-5 s% was 10.7%, and his sec-assist % was 46.0%. Needless to say, Miller is on pace to have one of the best seasons as a Canuck in over a decade.
Regardless if his hot streak will continue, Miller is worthy of a contract extension in Vancouver. This is exactly the type of player that you want to build your team around and have as a mentor to the younger players coming through the pipeline. Should Miller continue his streak, he could find himself atop of the leaderboard. Either way, he has etched his name in Canucks history.
