It’s almost hard to remember that JT Miller and his eventual trade from the Canucks to the New York Rangers is part of the Canucks’ story of 2025. When we look back, 2025 will almost certainly be remembered as the year of the Quinn Hughes trade, after the captain informed the Canucks that he wouldn’t be signing with the club long term around US Thanksgiving. That’s caused the Canucks to pivot and target young players and future assets as they get set to chart a new course in a Hughes-less world. We don’t know what the future holds for this next era of Canucks hockey, but no matter what, 2025 will almost certainly be remembered as the year of the Hughes trade.

Which is why it might be hard to remember that in early 2025, the Canucks traded JT Miller. The trade followed months of poor play from the Canucks’ forward, not to mention an off-ice feud with Elias Pettersson that Jim Rutherford proclaimed there was “no good solution for” before shipping Miller to the Rangers. As mentioned, prior to the trade, Miller was far from his best. He was turning pucks over, giving up on plays, oozing bad body language, and wasn’t putting up the point totals he’s used to.

Notably, there was the third period benching against the Nashville Predators, with a ten-game leave of absence for Miller that followed immediately after. But on January 16th, 2025, with the LA Kings in town, Miller’s time with the Canucks really felt like it was coming to an end. That game — and more specifically, Rick Tocchet’s comments about it post game — come in at number six on our list.

The Canucks lost to the Kings by a final score of 5-1. Miller finished as the low man of the forward group in even-strength ice time, playing just 9:25. It was clear that the head coach was growing frustrated by Miller’s poor play, but just in case you weren’t sure, Tocchet made it abundantly clear post game.

Of course, the part of that quote that got the most play was “it seems like every time he’s on the ice, something bad happens”, as that’s quite unusual to hear a coach say about a top player. But Miller wasn’t playing like a top player at that time. And in his first full season with the Rangers, who named him captain at the start of the season, Miller has struggled to produce offence as his club sits on the outside of a very crowded Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Check out our other top 10 stories of 2026 so far!
#10 – Canucks sign Garland and Demko to contract extensions on day one of free agency
#9 – When Rutherford hinted at trading for Jack and Luke Hughes to keep Quinn in Vancouver
#8 – Canucks select Braeden Cootes with 15th overall pick of 2025 NHL Draft
#7 – Brock Boeser details Allvin’s last-minute phone call that kept him in Vancouver