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Miller, Petey drama takes focus away from struggling Canucks
Ahead of the NHL holiday break, there is a lot of noise surrounding the Vancouver Canucks, as the team struggles to string together a couple of wins on the ice.
The team hasn’t won in three games, but there seems to be more focus on the drama playing out off the ice.
It’s been no secret that star players J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson haven’t always gotten along, but it seemingly came to a head in recent days. It was addressed publically by head coach Rick Tocchet and captain Quinn Hughes — the latter who said the reported rift was “one hundred per cent … workable.”
However, over the weekend both Miller and Pettersson denied anything was wrong.
“You guys, in a sense … the outer world, have created this thing. Like, this isn’t a thing,” Miller told reporters on Sunday. “Am I bothered? No. But you guys are just wasting your time. I don’t care. You guys want to talk about it, you want to ask me, ask me all you want. I can bring out Petey and we can do the interview together if that would make you guys happy.”
He was asked about all the speculation and drama currently playing out.
“Listen, I have a lot of stuff to worry about right now for myself. I’m not worried about any noise. The noise is between my ears and I’m trying to figure out how to play a good 200-foot game for the team.”
Pettersson was asked about the spat on Saturday night after the team lost in overtime to the Ottawa Senators.
“That’s still going on? Same answer — it’s good. I don’t know why people are still trying to make s*** up. Excuse my language, but that’s my response.”
He was asked if any of it was a distraction.
“Oh my God. Next question,” said Pettersson before leaving the scrum of reporters.
Sportsnet 650 Host Jamie Dodd says it’s hard to nail down a solution since whatever the issue is has not been made public.
“Trading players like Miller and Pettersson is not an easy decision. It’s possible; management could make that decision at some point in the future, but it would probably only be as a last resort,” Dodd explained.
“Both players can be elite when they’re at their best. Typically, Pettersson has been a more valuable player because he can be an excellent defensive player, in addition to what he does on the offensive side of things. But we haven’t really seen the best of Elias Pettersson in almost 12 months.
“And if you’re looking into the future, Pettersson is five years younger than Miller. If you’re trying to bet which one is going to be more valuable going forward, I think it’s fair to say that Elias Pettersson has a brighter future than Miller.”
He adds it looks like this apparent in-fighting is weighing on the locker room and may be a factor in why the team is not playing as well this year.
“Ultimately, it’s up to Pettersson and Miller to figure out and find a way to co-exist. We’ve all had to work with people we don’t really like, that’s part of having a job, but it can’t prevent you from doing your job. They don’t have to be best friends … but they have to figure out how to thrive on the same team.”
Dodd says the issue seems ridiculous.
“The players are making nearly $20 million combined this season. I think it’s hard for fans to believe that an interpersonal conflict between two grown adults is having this big an impact on the team’s success or at least as big of an impact as it seems to, on the outside looking in.”
On Monday’s episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the Canucks don’t want to trade either player and believe they’re a better team with both on the roster.
“I think if I was in Vancouver, I would say, ‘Nobody is going anywhere,’” Friedman said.
He added that the team should come right out and tell the media it’s no longer addressing this storyline.
“We did it once and we’re not giving any more air to it and we’re going out there to play. We did it. We addressed it. Goodbye.”
Friedman said the only opinion that should concern everyone right now is that of Quinn Hughes.
“I think he’s a really good captain. I think he’s really worked behind the scenes to try and help this out and do what’s necessary. If I was in the front office, I would say, ‘What do you think here?’ I would be going to Hughes. And you know you’re going to get an answer that’s not self-serving in any way,” Friedman said.
“You know you’re going to get an honest answer of what’s going on and I’m sure they’ve talked to him already. You’re obviously asking for Tocchet and the coaching staff’s input, but I would be making sure I had Hughes’ input. ‘Give us the true pulse and what do we need to do here?’” he added.
Despite the state of the team right now, Friedman thinks they can win the Stanley Cup.
“We’re only on December 23rd, there’s plenty of time to sort themselves out. Maybe someone said, ‘If we put this all out there, maybe everyone looks and sees and says, ‘OK, now we can start pulling this back together.’”
The Canucks take on the San Jose Sharks Monday night. Puck drop is at 6 p.m.
