JT Miller makes his official return to the Vancouver Canucks’ lineup tonight.

Following today’s morning skate, Miller met with the media for the first time since taking a leave of absence in mid-November. Prior to fielding questions, Miller requested that the media not ask questions about why he was away from the team.

“I am playing tonight, and I really would appreciate if we just stayed away from the reasons why I wasn’t here from all of you guys. You can ask all you want, but I’m not going to dive into the reasons why I wasn’t here the last three or four weeks. I’m here with the team, and I am ready to look forward to what’s going to happen in the future, not necessarily what has happened in the past. So I know you guys are going to ask no matter what, but I’m just going to say I’m not talking about it. But I just want to let you guys know ahead of time.

“I’m excited to play. I want to play. And, you know, obviously fun game to play against the defending champion. So just happy to be around the guys and looking forward to tonight.”

Miller said that he watched some Canucks game during his leave of absence, and that it was “a bit of both” when it came to taking a full step away from hockey.

“Finding ways to win, getting contributions from a lot of different guys,” Miller said when asked what he’s seen from the team since he’s been away. “You know, obviously with myself and Fil [Hronek] and Demmer [Thatcher Demko] and having some injuries, there’s been guys that have stepped up, and it’s been nice to see. It was a heck of road trip by those guys, a lot of travel, a lot of games, and come back home and get a couple points has been nice. It’s been good, but we’ve got a hard schedule the next couple next week.”

On being away from the team:

“Yeah, it sucks, no matter what it’s for. You know, this is the family away from family here, and you miss the guys and I’m just excited to be around them and get back and compete.”

You can watch the press conference in full below: