J.T. Miller is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Vancouver Canucks for personal reasons, the team announced Tuesday.
“Right now, our sole focus is making sure that J.T. knows the entire organization is here to support him,” general manager Patrik Allvin said. ‘Out of respect for J.T., we will have no further comment at this time.”
The 31-year-old forward is in his sixth season with Vancouver and 13th NHL season, having also played for the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
He has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 17 games this season. The six goals are tied for the team lead with forwards Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter. His 16 points are second on the Canucks behind defenseman Quinn Hughes, who has 18 (three goals, 15 assists).
He is in the third season of a seven-year, $56 million contract he signed with Vancouver on Sept. 2, 2022.
“Obviously he's a massive part of our team and a superstar in the League, so anytime you miss a guy like that, you're going to feel it,” said Hughes, the Canucks captain. “But at the same time, I have a lot of confidence in the guys we have here and coming into the year we thought we had a contending team. And it's not just one guy, it's our whole group, and I'm very confident who we have in here.”
Selected by the Rangers in the first round (No. 15) of the 2011 NHL Draft, Miller has 655 points (244 goals, 411 assists) in 816 games.
The Canucks (9-5-3) conclude a six-game homestand against the Rangers at Rogers Arena on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNP, MSG).
“It's indefinite in the sense we don't know how long,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “Respect the privacy of ‘Millsy.’ … He's a family member here, we’re going to support him.”
NHL.com independent correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report
