The Vancouver Canucks are getting even more reinforcements back, as it’s being reported that JT Miller will return to practice on Wednesday, ahead of their Thursday game against the Florida Panthers.
The news first broke on Monday morning by TSN’s Darren Dreger on his weekly hit on The Nation Network’s Sekeres & Price:
“It’s been expected that JT Miller would eventually make his return to the Vancouver Canucks. The good news is they are targeting Wednesday where he will practice. That’s the expectation. Beyond that, though, as you would expect, the organization is going to entirely leave it up to JT to decide when he’s ready to jump back into the league and back into the Canucks lineup on a full-time basis.
“You could make a pretty easy argument that the Vancouver Canucks desperately need him back into the mix. It sounds like he’s recharged; it sounds like he’s excited about coming back. But again, the official return of JT Miller from a regular-season perspective is going to be up to him.”
Miller has been out of the Canucks lineup since November 19th, following a game against the Nashville Predators where head coach Rick Tocchet benched the forward. In that game, Miller would post zeros in the stat category across the board, which led to his season-low 11:41 ice time.
Before his benching and leave of absence, Miller was producing. He was riding a three-game point streak, totalling five points. However, his struggles lay in his plus-minus, as he had a minus-three rating in his previous five games. On the season as a whole, Miller scored six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 18:24 minutes of average ice time with a plus-one rating.
Despite the absence of last season’s leading scorer, the Canucks posted a 5-3-1 record, outscoring their opponents 31-28. During that span, the team have gotten impressive offensive contributions from Quinn Hughes (14 points), Elias Pettersson (13 points), Jake DeBrusk (11 points), Conor Garland (10 points) and Pius Suter (9 points), who all boast at least a point per game.
The Canucks are starting to get healthier, as their Vezina-calibre goaltender Thatcher Demko has dressed in the club’s previous two games, serving as the backup netminder for Kevin Lankinen. Defenceman Derek Forbort’s return looks to be on the horizon, as he has returned to practice and recently shed his non-contact jersey. Although, the blueline will still be without Filip Hronek for some time.
While there is no game circled on the calendar for Miller’s return, with him back at Canucks practice, all signs indicate it will be at some point on their six-game home stand. If it isn’t Thursday against the Panthers, his next possibility will be on Saturday when the Canucks take on the Boston Bruins in Rogers Arena.