BOSTON — Brock Boeser plays tonight for the Vancouver Canucks, and goalie Thatcher Demko will be the next missing star to return — possibly on this road trip.
But little is known yet about the return of J.T. Miller, the National Hockey League team’s emotional leader and power forward who suddenly left the Canucks almost one week ago on a personal leave of absence.
“First and foremost, I'm very proud of J.T. seeking help,” general manager Patrik Allvin said Monday. “I don't know if he said it, but I believe that he's going to be a better person, better teammate and better hockey player when he returns. And we sure miss him; he's such an impactful hockey player. I think we have and the league has all the right support to help him.”
Allvin’s comment, during an interview with Sportsnet about the Canucks’ opening quarter, are the first public remarks from management since the team announced Miller’s leave last Wednesday.
It also offers some clarity about the nature of the player’s absence, that the 31-year-old centre is seeking help for himself.
Over the last two years, Miller has spoken openly about the ongoing challenge to manage his emotions, and not allowing anger or frustration to affect him or his teammates.
Miller’s agent, Brian Bartlett, declined to comment Tuesday morning except to say he appreciated the thoughtfulness of Allvin’s sentiment.
Despite managing an undisclosed upper-body injury that had persisted since training camp began in September, Miller had 16 points in the first 17 games playing mostly on a line with Boeser, who suffered a concussion in Los Angeles on Nov. 7. Miller left the team five games later.
“Listen, I miss the guy,” coach Rick Tocchet said after the Canucks’ optional skate here Tuesday morning. “But obviously there are things that are more important than hockey. He's a huge part of our team, and when a guy like that is not there, you notice.”
Boeser returns Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins after missing seven games due to his head injury.
A 40-goal scorer last season, Boeser will start on a line with centre Teddy Blueger and left winger Danton Heinen.
“Yeah, he'll play tonight,” Tocchet said. “He came to me yesterday, and he wants to play. Those situations, obviously, when you're medically cleared, then it's the player's decision, I always think. A guy like Brock, he wants to play every game.”
Boeser has had only one full team practice with contact, but has been symptom-free for more than a week. His return should provide a boost for a team that has been playing without its top winger, first-line centre and No. 1 goalie.
“From my experience, you use it to your advantage,” Tocchet said of the emotional aspect of Boeser’s return. “But we still have to stay (with) the identity of our team. We played a really smart hockey game in Ottawa (4-3 win on Saturday). Things don't change because Brock comes in, or we start getting guys back. We've got to stay with identity, so that's really the message.”
Kevin Lankinen starts in goal for the Canucks. Demko appeared to have another good session in the optional skate at the TD Garden.
The star goaltender hasn’t played since injuring the popliteus muscle in his knee last April 21. But with four more stops after tonight on the Canucks’ six-game road trip, it feels like the return of last season’s Vezina Trophy runner-up is becoming imminent.
“Things have actually gone better than I anticipated,” Allvin said when asked about Demko’s status one-quarter of the way through the regular season. “He was working so hard and was so determined to get better. You guys see him out there (on the ice), but the amount of time that he spent with our strength and medical staff. . . I'm very happy and pleased where we are that he's probably getting into game-time decisions here.”
The Canucks visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday as the road trip accelerates with three games in less than four days.
Max Sasson, who set up Blueger’s goal on Saturday and looked excellent in his NHL debut at age 24, is the forward coming out of the lineup for Boeser.
“That's the hardest thing as a coach because he doesn't really deserve to come out,” Tocchet said. “I thought he played a really good game. But the message to him is he could go in the next game against Pittsburgh. That's the message. I really enjoyed watching the way he played a team game. So stick with it.”
CANUCKS PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Jake DeBrusk-Elias Pettersson-Kiefer Sherwood
Dakota Joshua-Pius Suter-Conor Garland
Danton Heinen-Teddy Blueger-Brock Boeser
Nils Hoglander-Aatu Raty-Arshdeep Bains
Defencemen
Quinn Hughes-Filip Hronek
Erik Brannstrom-Tyler Myers
Carson Soucy-Noah Juulsen
Goalies
Kevin Lankinen
Arturs Silovs
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