Rangers' J.T. Miller Opens Up About Canucks Exit: 'We Loved It There. But...'

Miller, who played 404 games for Vancouver and averaged over a point per game, took a personal leave in late November and waived his no-move clause to return to the Rangers, where he started his career, on Jan. 31. 

His exit followed months of speculation about locker room friction, particularly with teammate Elias Pettersson.

Canucks president Jim Rutherford confirmed the rift and acknowledged the organization could not continue with both players and had to choose one.

“The whole me-and-Petey thing, it’s still blown out of proportion,” Miller said. “Clearly, if me and Petey were better than we were, obviously this might be different. But it’s also not as bad as everybody thought, either. There was just a lot of moving parts.”

Now back where his NHL career began, Miller has scored 18 points in 20 games with the Rangers entering Saturday's matchup. 

Miller said his transition has been smooth but made clear Saturday’s game won’t be sentimental.

“It’s going to be a war,” Miller said.

Vancouver and New York sit just outside the postseason picture entering their clash at Madison Square Garden.

The Canucks are one point back of St. Louis for the final wild card in the West with a game in hand while the Rangers are two points behind Montreal in the East, with the Canadiens holding two games in hand.