J.T. Miller's return to Vancouver a glimpse at the past and his future

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The former Canucks star’s time ended badly, he knows, but he believes he’s learned and emerged a better leader

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Published Oct 28, 2025 • Last updated 8 minutes ago • 4 minute read

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J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers stretches prior to playing against his former team at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on October 28, 2025. Photo by Derek Cain /Getty ImagesArticle content

Whatever happens Tuesday night at Rogers Arena, whatever you make of how he departed, J.T. Miller’s return to Vancouver was always going to be an emotional one.

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This was a place he and his wife Natalie had chosen to be. He had happily signed a seven-year contract to be here. They were raising their children here.

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And then everything went south. It’s still a bit of a behind-the-scenes mystery, one that there have been plenty of whispers about but little firmly on the record. What we know that is there was a nasty split between Miller and Elias Pettersson, one that was insurmountable in the end.

It was Miller who went to management and said it was time to get a fresh start somewhere else. He landed back with the New York Rangers, the team that had first drafted him. If his future wasn’t going to be in Vancouver, he wanted it to be back in the Big Apple.

Tuesday’s return, though, was clearly a big deal for him, and for his family. Vancouver was a home away from home, he says.

The Rangers, who haven’t won on home ice yet this season and are just 3-5-2, had a scheduled day off on Monday in Vancouver. The choice was clearly intentional. It offered a chance for the Rangers’ captain and his wife and their kids to catch up with their friends from their old life.

They caught up with loads of friends — and not just a collection of old teammates (although he was documented on social media having a drink with Quinn Hughes and Adam Foote, plus Brock Boeser said they had dinner). They met up with friends they had made living in West Vancouver, from school and socially.

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It was a visit with the past, no doubt. An emotional one, perhaps.

Vancouver is the place where he found his more grown-up, more mature self, he’ll tell you. Yes, even if everything blew up on him and the team last year.

“You can’t go back and change anything,” he said. “Obviously, it’s ugly sometimes at the end, but I think for the majority of the time I was here, it’s been positive. It’s been a lot of good things. And 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. But definitely still a lot of friendships and a lot of good memories, and a lot of good things from that experience, so I’m happy.”

He is captain of the Rangers now. When he was younger, when he was as loud and abrasive as it gets, it wasn’t clear he would be captain material. His emotional drive, his loud nature, was something that was valuable — to a point. But over his time in Vancouver, last season perhaps excepted, he grew as a person.

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“It wasn’t like it was smooth sailing the whole time,” he reflected about his time with the Canucks. “I embrace who I am as a human, I like who I am as a person, and as a player, and emotion comes with that. Obviously, it’s not gonna be pretty all the time, but it’s just something we got to deal with.”

Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan said the qualities Miller brings to the table were exactly what he wants from the guy who gets the C stamped on his chest.

“He’s a no nonsense guy, as you guys know — in a lot of ways, in the way he plays the game,” Sullivan explained. “He’s a fierce competitor. He’s a talented player and has the ability to make plays and on the offensive side, but he’s hard to play against at the same time. I think he embodies the identity that we’re trying to build here and I just think his presence on the bench and in the locker room has been great.”

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J.T. Miller in a game against the Minnesota Wild earlier this month Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

That maturity is something he talked a lot about when he was in Vancouver. In New York, he clearly believes that the lessons from his past have calcified. He understands how his emotions can get the best of him. “I don’t play calm,” he said in the past. But he also knows that to be effective as a leader, he has to be somewhat controlled. His coach is helping with that.

“That letter can be heavy and we don’t want that to be the case for him. We’re going to support him in every way we can,” Sullivan explained. “(GM) Chris Drury and I have had a number of conversations with him about that. I talk to J.T. daily about the vision for this team, the messaging to the group. I look at him as almost an extension of our coaching staff, and so he and I have daily conversations about the group and what we’re trying to accomplish, what the messaging should be. And I look for his insight.”

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“I think J.T. has a maturity to him right now,” the coach concluded. “He self admittedly says that maybe a few years ago he didn’t, and that’s the benefit of experience. I think all of us, we learn through our experiences, and we become wiser versions of ourselves through the process. I think J.T. is experiencing that now. He has a certain perspective, having been in the league now for a number of years, and going through a number of different circumstances, both good and bad, and that’s how we all grow. He cares deeply about our team and the Rangers. He wants to win in the worst way.”

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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J.T. Miller’s return to Vancouver a glimpse at the past and his future

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