VANCOUVER — In repetition and delivery, J.T. Miller’s media availability this week had faint echoes of Marshawn Lynch’s “I’m-just-here-so-I-won’t-get-fined” Super Bowl press conference a decade ago.
Three times in his first 42 seconds with reporters after Tuesday’s practice, Miller used a version of “I’ve just been taking care of myself and not forcing it, and I’ll be ready to go Friday” to explain his conspicuous absence from pre-season games for the Vancouver Canucks.
Clearly, Miller’s patience was wearing thin with what was a reasonable interrogation over an injury/illness/issue that did not appear to be affecting the Canucks’ 103-point centre as he practised at full pace throughout training camp and the pre-season.
But this is J.T. Miller 2.0, far more patient, self-aware and mature than when he arrived in Vancouver five years ago. And so he did not combust, but went on to answer other questions thoughtfully and honestly.
And in a market as rabid as this one, and with a couple of prominent teammates far less willing than he to stand in front of microphones, don’t underestimate the value of Miller’s honesty and accountability.
From a distance, Miller actually seems nothing like Marshawn Lynch, the former Seattle Seahawks running back.
What they have in common, however, is beast mode — that rare combination of skill, power and ferocity that can, at times, tilt a playing field or ice sheet.
Miller is paramount to the Canucks, and has been since that 2019 trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning that gave him both opportunity and pause and allowed the American to rebrand himself and become at age 31 one of the best centres in the National Hockey League.
In the last five seasons, only 10 NHL players have scored more than Miller’s 402 points, and of that dazzling group, only Leon Draisaitl and Matthew Thachuk have punched the regular-season clock more regularly than Miller (364 games).
But all 10 of them have played more than Miller’s 13 non-pandemic playoff games, achieved last spring when the Canucks surprised everyone but themselves by taking the Edmonton Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup tournament’s second round.
“We’ve been told how great a season it was so many times by fans and media and whatever, but that’s not the end-all-be-all,” Miller told Sportsnet during a one-on-one interview at camp. “We want to be contending for a Stanley Cup every single season. We showed (last season) we can do that. We’ve been talking about setting a standard and a culture and an environment — character as a group. To do that, you just have to do it every time, every year.”
And that is the challenge this season for the Canucks and to some extent Miller — to prove they are not one-season wonders. To establish a pattern of play superior enough that the team is in Stanley Cup contention every season, or at least as long as it boasts a core that includes Miller, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, and Thatcher Demko.
That was the consistent standard Miller grew up with as an NHL player, first with the New York Rangers and then, for two seasons, with the mighty Lightning as Tampa was figuring out how to become a repeat Stanley Cup champion.
“Yeah, you can go into the playoffs and there are teams that have proven that after one (try) they can go win it,” Miller said. “But typically, you’re in there for a long time trying to win it. I mean, the Penguins won it, what in 2009, and then they had to fight for seven more years to get another one. It seems like it takes time. There’s a lot of stuff that I bring on a day-to-day basis that I learned from the leaders of that Rangers group and the Tampa guys.
“There were some unbelievable, probably Hall-of-Fame players there that played in the playoffs for 10 or 12 straight years. They talked about standard all the time in Tampa. We talked about standard all the time when I was in New York. I was just talking to somebody recently about that Rangers group. . . and how close they came so many times. I mean, it was just crazy. And Tampa, how many times (were they capable of winning it) before they won? It takes repetitiveness.”
With no game reps in pre-season so far, Miller will be a central figure when the Canucks play their final dress rehearsal Friday night against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena.
Given his work history, it would be stunning if Miller isn’t fully ready for the regular-season opener against the Calgary Flames in Vancouver next Wednesday.
Miller makes no promises about repeating his career season offensively, although since he also posted 99 points in 2021-22, it would be reckless to dismiss the possibility that he will again hit the century mark.
But he is adamant that the Canucks won’t regress or collapse the way the organization did after Vancouver’s apparent breakthrough with most of this same core during the 2020 playoff bubble.
Demko remains out indefinitely with a knee injury, which certainly has the potential to undermine the Canucks’ season. But their lineup will include six experienced NHL players added in free agency, including four wingers who should give Vancouver’s attack more heft and balance this season.
One of those players from a winning organization, Boston Bruins free agent Danton Heinen, is expected to start alongside Miller and Boeser on the top line.
“It’s not my job to evaluate (management), but I think they did an unreal job,” Miller said. “It’s so exciting as a player. It shows that they have confidence in you when you bring in veteran guys that have played and have done really well. Guys that have played playoff games, guys that can score, guys that can defend.
“I mean, you’ve got to be on your game or if you don’t bring it, next guy’s coming in. That’s what you want within an organization. When you talk about standards, that goes up and down the lineup, into the minors, it’s like a culture within the organization. When they bring in a lot of good players like that, a lot of depth within our team, you just know it makes you stronger.”
Will Miller be stronger? Can he be?
“Listen, I don’t want my ceiling to be based on points,” he said. “This is what I always try to tell you guys: I may play an even better 200-foot game this year and have 20 less points. That’s not a failure to me. If our team’s winning games, we might score less, but we might give up a lot less. That’s the evolution for me. I want to be a really good 200-foot player in the league, and that doesn’t change.”