New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller expects an emotional night as he returns to Vancouver for the first time since the Canucks traded him last season, but neither he nor Elias Pettersson wanted to discuss their personal feud that necessitated that trade before Tuesday’s game.
“Everything happens. You can’t go back and change anything,” Miller said. “It’s ugly sometimes at the end, but I think for the majority of the time I was here, it was positive. I’m not going to sit here and dwell over the way it ended. I didn’t expect that to be pretty. And it wasn’t.”
Miller spent six seasons in Vancouver, where he had the best offensive years of his career (437 points in 404 games) and signed a seven-year, $56 million contract extension in 2022. But his tenure was cut short after a longstanding personal conflict with Pettersson fractured the Canucks’ locker room last season.
Miller, 32, was traded to the Rangers on Jan. 31 for center Filip Chytil, defenseman Victor Mancini and a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 draft. Miller waived his no-trade clause to facilitate the deal, bringing him back to New York, which drafted him 15th overall in 2011 and is where he played seven seasons.
He was named the Rangers’ captain prior to the season.
Pettersson downplayed the emotions surrounding Miller’s return on Tuesday, noting he already faced him as an opponent last season — a 5-3 win by the Rangers at MSG that saw Pettersson leave the game with an injury after 7:50 of ice time.
Rather than address their history together, he heaped praise on Miller’s abilities on the ice.
“J.T. is an unbelievable player. He plays hard,” Pettersson said. “If I’m matched up with him tonight, I’ll try to be on the winning side of it.”
Tuesday’s game marks the first time that Miller and his family returned to Vancouver. He said they spent time reconnecting with friends and his former teammates — he was photographed having a meal with injured Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes and head coach Adam Foote on Monday.
“I’m sure for him it will be [emotional], Foote said. “He played a long time here. He played hard. The fans liked him. They’ll have a tribute for him. I’m sure the fans will give him a big cheer for sure.”
Miller said no matter the reaction, it’ll be a poignant return to his former home arena. He stressed, however, that his attention is on the Rangers, who have stumbled to a 3-5-2 start under new coach Mike Sullivan.
“It’s going to be emotional for me, no doubt,” said Miller, who has two goals and four assists this season. “Just trying to worry about our task at hand for the Rangers.
“We need to get a win. We have a lot to worry about on our end here. We’re trying to focus on that. We need to get things going as a group here. What happens outside of that is out of our control.”
That includes how the situation with Pettersson was framed by fans and media on his way out of Vancouver last season.
“I really don’t look into how I was painted,” Miller said. “All I care about is my family. At the end of the day, it was the best for both sides. We’re moved on. We’re so far past that.”
