Player Discussion JT Miller Appreciation Thread (2021)

[God]

With the cap possibly going up to 4 million I can see a team biting on the contract.

Either way, this isn't JT's first stretch of games where he's been an absolute mess, and it won't be his last. Over the course of the season I expect him to have flashes of brilliance again. This starts with deployment, though - Boudreau needs to take him off the PK, and tell him to stop "trying to be better defensively" because he's literally just puck watching. Go score goals and make us forget about everything we don't like about you.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

With the cap possibly going up to 4 million I can see a team biting on the contract.

Either way, this isn't JT's first stretch of games where he's been an absolute mess, and it won't be his last. Over the course of the season I expect him to have flashes of brilliance again. This starts with deployment, though - Boudreau needs to take him off the PK, and tell him to stop "trying to be better defensively" because he's literally just puck watching. Go score goals and make us forget about everything we don't like about you.

Miller was playing erratically in the first month of the 2020-21 season (the North Division)..There were no fans in the building so his loud swearing came to light..blind passes, giving up on the play etc.

Miller started playing centre that season, and did an outstanding job (along with Demko, he carried the team..Petey was out) until covid pretty much ended the season for the Canucks.

Last season, Miller was the only top 6 forward who was 'on' for the first quarter of the season.

I fully expect him to snap out of this malaise, and be the force that he is...Could be a few weeks though.

 

[Bleach Clean]

More like, "JT Miller depreciation Thread".

He's still a far better player than he's looked to start this season. But it's astonishing how much he's done to tarnish his reputation with fans so quickly after signing a huge new megadeal. That was already going to be an uphill battle to "win" on and live up to. Then he gets off to...this sort of memeworthy start.


Should probably try to find a way to pull the ripcord on Miller playing at Center for a bit. Playing as a pivot just tends to exacerbate the volatility in his play. Unfortunately, that leaves us with 2 effective Centers and 1 limited minutes 4th liner. Nobody to actually Center the 3rd Line.

It's where i was okay with bringing Miller back. At worst, he's a good power winger. But they really needed to look at some creative ways to have at least some sort of "backup plan" beyond Petey/Bo/Miller all Centering their own lines.

It's not a bad thought, in a vacuum. I think the extra flexibility and insurance having 4 Top-6/9 Centers brings is huge. Especially when it comes to giving you options if one of them is injured or playing like total trash, or you just need a shakeup of the lines and a totally different look.

My question though is, much like the neverending hunt for a Top-4 RHD...which teams out there are actually sitting around with a big surplus of quality Centers they want to move for a Winger? I'm struggling to identify them off the top of my head.

Especially complicated by Boeser's fairly large salary. That team would also have to either have significant cap wiggle room, or be sending back other pieces with significant salary as well.


The Isles come to mind as a popular target obviously. If Boeser could be moved for something like Pageau+Mayfield, that's great. But that leaves them without a real 3rd Line Center. So i don't see why they'd do it.

I've been watching this team, but not posting as much here. My thoughts on this are probably not representative of what has been said here, but here goes:

Miller is a Centre. He had his best year at that position. Granted, his defensive play is erratic and he makes some terrible passes at times. Even with that said, he produced at a top10 level points wise there. That is an elite output.

What they should do is saddle him with Mikheyev and Garland, two forwards that will help him with shot differentials, and let him go. Let him be the key offensive force on his line.

I see the lines like this:

Podkolzin-Pettersson-Kuzmenko
Pearson-Miller-Garland
Mikheyev/Hoglander-Horvat-Boeser
Joshua-Aman-Lazar

Play aggressive. Go after it. Stalling like the 90s New Jersey Devils isn't this team. This team has to attack all the time.

 

[Petey But Really Jim]

His NMC doesn’t kick in until next year, right? Can he be traded freely right now? If so, and if he really is a locker room cancer, seems like a no brainer to try to deal him soon for help on D.

The cancer that matters sits in a suite.

 

[Hit the post]

I've been watching this team, but not posting as much here. My thoughts on this are probably not representative of what has been said here, but here goes:

Miller is a Centre. He had his best year at that position. Granted, his defensive play is erratic and he makes some terrible passes at times. Even with that said, he produced at a top10 level points wise there. That is an elite output.

What they should do is saddle him with Mikheyev and Garland, two forwards that will help him with shot differentials, and let him go. Let him be the key offensive force on his line.

I see the lines like this:

Podkolzin-Pettersson-Kuzmenko
Pearson-Miller-Garland
Mikheyev/Hoglander-Horvat-Boeser
Joshua-Aman-Lazar

Play aggressive. Go after it. Stalling like the 90s New Jersey Devils isn't this team. This team has to attack all the time.

Thing is, team has been losing because they couldn't hold leads. Not sure going this route will solve this issue 'gaff'.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Thing is, team has been losing because they couldn't hold leads. Not sure going this route will solve this issue 'gaff'.

They get the leads first by playing this way. We can't forget this. Better to have outlying elements like terrible special teams and a pedestrian Demko resolve, than to play against type. So says Gaffe.

 

[biturbo19]

I've been watching this team, but not posting as much here. My thoughts on this are probably not representative of what has been said here, but here goes:

Miller is a Centre. He had his best year at that position. Granted, his defensive play is erratic and he makes some terrible passes at times. Even with that said, he produced at a top10 level points wise there. That is an elite output.

What they should do is saddle him with Mikheyev and Garland, two forwards that will help him with shot differentials, and let him go. Let him be the key offensive force on his line.

I see the lines like this:

Podkolzin-Pettersson-Kuzmenko
Pearson-Miller-Garland
Mikheyev/Hoglander-Horvat-Boeser
Joshua-Aman-Lazar

Play aggressive. Go after it. Stalling like the 90s New Jersey Devils isn't this team. This team has to attack all the time.

There are times when i have no problem with Miller at center. But when he's in one of these funks, i'm not so sure how productive it is to let him blunder around digging a deeper hole for himself.

If he is going to stay at Center (and realistically, he kinda has to with our lack of depth down the middle)...i like the idea of him playing with Garland especially. They've worked well together, and it could help to just simplify the game and play down low. Mikheyev on the other wing would also potentially do a lot to help him climb out of this. Kinda leaves Horvat with "the leftovers", but honestly...he's played most of his career that way and seems to generally do alright with it. So maybe that is the solution.

 

[Bleach Clean]

There are times when i have no problem with Miller at center. But when he's in one of these funks, i'm not so sure how productive it is to let him blunder around digging a deeper hole for himself.

If he is going to stay at Center (and realistically, he kinda has to with our lack of depth down the middle)...i like the idea of him playing with Garland especially. They've worked well together, and it could help to just simplify the game and play down low. Mikheyev on the other wing would also potentially do a lot to help him climb out of this. Kinda leaves Horvat with "the leftovers", but honestly...he's played most of his career that way and seems to generally do alright with it. So maybe that is the solution.

Horvat getting Boeser and Hoglander/Pearson as the leftovers seems ok to me.

Flanking Miller with Garland and Mikheyev makes sense.

Run with three lines and cobble something together for the defense. Should be enough to be middling once Demko and the special teams turn around.