Twelve games after the All-Star Break have seen J.T. Miller score nine goals. Examine the reasons why.
It’s clear that Vancouver is the proper fit for J.T. Miller, even five years after he was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
He was never considered an attacking driver for a team while playing in New York or Tampa. He has been in Vancouver.
And this is probably the most fascinating season he has ever had.
He’s getting more points but taking fewer shots. additionally, he is genuinely playing less. He played more than 20 minutes a night on average over his four prior seasons. He’s still playing at a decent 19:40 per game this season.
With 81 points, Miller is on track to surpass 100 points for the season (he had 99 two years ago). Since the All-Star Break, Miller has scored nine goals in 12 games.
Indeed, this may be the most enjoyment he has ever felt for any club, let alone as a Canuck.
This season, he is scoring on 21.6% of his shots, which is more than his career average of 15%. Perhaps some luck is involved, but his line is also playing well.
Miller knows very well that he’s not as frequently in excellent shooting locations when he plays with Brock Boeser. Although he would prefer to shoot more, Boeser now plays that duty. Miller is unable to contest the way their line is performing.
In any case, he’s still scoring.
“We’re cool with that being how it works when you play with a guy like Brock who’s always in that spot,” he grinned.
Miller is performing precisely as head coach Rick Tocchet desires his group to perform.
The coach remarked on Wednesday, “He drives play, he demands the puck.” “I want our team to play the way he demands the puck,”
Miller concurred that his performance is mostly due to the lighter burden.
The fact that the rest of the team is playing so well and isn’t chasing the game every night accounts for a large portion of the load reduction.
“It’s challenging to chase a lead when you’re on the ice for the final five minutes of every game,” he remarked. You come to a complete stop.
The way his teammate has played has impressed Elias Pettersson.
He’s merely engaging in his game. He remarked, “You see what I see.”
Like Miller, Pettersson’s ice time is down somewhat as well, at 19:37 per game. He agreed with his colleague that their game has become more consistent as a result of the lighter load.
For example, they are not killing penalties as much as they did in previous seasons.
“There isn’t really an extra minute there, but we will have more five-on-five time after that,” he stated.
Tocchet believes the ideal amount of ice time per game is between 18 and 20 minutes.
He declared, “Our team is built on depth.” It’s critical to rotate everyone and try to avoid relying too much on your best players in the playoffs as well as in their quest for a postseason berth.
He concurs that Miller has benefited from the lower load.
“I didn’t want to exhaust him. Hasn’t PKed as often, and I believe that has improved his legs,” the man remarked.
Tocchet also believes that a significant contributing aspect has been Miller’s honesty and practical work ethic.
Miller stated he didn’t think he was playing all that well two weeks ago. Obviously, he is now.
“In my opinion, Millsy recognizes it and goes about playing his game. The boys first hear him admit that he is a piece of junk. However, he then takes action,” the coach remarked.
Miller freely admits that he is a sentimental player. more sentimental than most people. It’s true that he has let his passions get the better of him in the past. Even though he believes he has a better handle on his emotions, he is still quite sensitive.
Additionally, he seems to communicate best with his coach.
“We’re going to talk it out when (I) go to Millsy or when he gets to me. In the past two weeks, I believe he has done an excellent job at that. He addresses issues quickly and constructively if something bothers him or the team does something that he disagrees with, according to Tocchet.
It’s getting to the point; it’s neither antagonistic nor derogatory. And since it’s all him and he’s done a great job dealing with that, I think I should give him a lot of credit.
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