JT Miller is having a tough time of it. At least, by his own lofty standards.

On the one hand, Miller is still the team’s top-scoring forward with 16 points in 17 games, and that rate hasn’t slowed down much – he’s got five points in his last five games.

On the other hand, where the struggles in his game haven’t been statistically apparent on the surface, they’ve been visible. Miller just doesn’t look right out there, with an uncharacteristic lack of engagement and drive that led to his being benched throughout much of the Canucks’ loss against the Nashville Predators on Sunday.

Theories abound as to what is going on. Brock Boeser’s sudden absence is undeniably a factor, with him and Miller having been consistent linemates for most of the last two seasons running. Whatever injury Miller has been nursing since the preseason also must have something to do with it.

But it’s also got to be more than those two external factors. Miller’s lack of engagement on the penalty kill, specifically – the thing that got him benched – looks like something more than a nagging sore spot.

In many ways, Miller looks like a player in need of a reset. And what better reset than going back to where Miller first found success as a Canuck, and where he really began to turn his career around.

We’re talking about (temporarily) putting him back on Elias Pettersson’s wing.

Back in the hey-day of the Lotto Line, Miller, Pettersson, and Boeser were a pretty consistent unit, and the team’s top scoring line by a country mile. During those times, Miller and Pettersson traded off on centre duties fairly evenly.

But right now, those centre duties seem to be a bit beyond Miller.

Strangely enough, the Nashville game might have been his best two-way effort in a while, despite the benching. At least in that one, he kept his Corsi and expected goals and chance control and all those other fancy stats above 50%.

Not so in other recent games. Saturday’s game against Chicago might have been a win for the Canucks, but Miller turned in just a 31.25% ratio of expected goals. Thursday’s loss to the Islanders was somehow even worse, with Miller racking up a 30.77% on-ice shot share and a paltry 20.69% ratio of expected goals.

Again, Miller scored three points across these two games. His offensive game still exists, and he can definitely still contribute on the power play.

It’s those two-way components of his job that aren’t getting done right now. The defensive control at 5-on-5, and especially on the PK. These are, unfortunately, part of the primary role of a centre.

Which is why we’re proposing giving Miller a little break from centre altogether, in an attempt to allow him to get his game back under control while carrying a bit less in-game responsibility.

The fact is that Pettersson is rolling right now. With six points in his last five games, we’d hesitate to say Pettersson is ‘back,’ but he’s certainly back up to his old standard of play, at least for the time being. He and Jake DeBrusk have been simply dominant as linemates throughout the month of November.

Why not use that momentum to also get Miller going?

Yes, the line of DeBrusk, Pettersson, and Kiefer Sherwood has been a great success. But, to be perfectly honest, Sherwood has been a smash hit no matter where he’s been placed in the lineup. Does anyone really believe that Miller, no matter his current state, isn’t capable of playing the ‘Sherwood’ role on this unit, with perhaps a bit less tenacity but with a lot more skill?

Right now, the one component of the centre-ice position that Miller is outdoing Pettersson at is the faceoff circle. Well, much like was the case when they used to play together, the two could still trade off draws as much as was desired.

The past precedence for chemistry is strong, and it hasn’t gone anywhere, either. Last season, Miller scored approximately 30% of his even-strength points while playing with Pettersson, despite that time representing about 11% of his total even-strength minutes.

This season, they’ve yet to play a single minute of 5-on-5 together. What better time for that to change than now?

We’re not talking about forever. Boeser is going to come back to the lineup at some point, and then he and Miller will automatically be put back together. More than that, there’s little doubt that the one-two punch of Miller and Pettersson at centre remains one of the Canucks’ greatest strengths. If this team is going to accomplish anything in its current state, it’s going to do so with those two splitting the 1C/2C duties. That much is certain, and so Miller is eventually going to be back on his own line

But as a temporary measure? An attempt to get Miller going, and give him at least a springboard of offensive success from which to rebuild the rest of his game? We think the idea has potential.

If Miller isn’t going to be outright removed from the lineup for maintenance reasons – and at this juncture, it seems like he’s going to stay in – then the only other way to give him a break or a rest is through the lessening of his on-ice duties.

Putting him on Pettersson’s wing for a spell is one such way to do so, and from where we’re sitting, it’s also a method with a high chance of jumpstarting Miller’s game.

Who covers Miller’s spot at 2C? For the time being, we’d suggest Aatu Räty. He’s been showing a lot of skill of late, and has earned high praise from Tocchet for his work ethic. A brief audition for Räty in the top-six while Miller is sorting some stuff out seems well-timed.

At the very least, it seems like an idea worth trying, at least for a game or two. Take Miller off the PK, and take him out of the centre ice entirely, and see if he can find his way back there through a stint of success next to his old running mate.