Vancouver Canucks forward J.T. Miller will be taking an indefinite leave of absence for ‘personal reasons’, as revealed in a statement from the team.
‘Right now, our sole focus is making sure that J.T. knows the entire organization is here to support him,’ Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said. ‘Out of respect to J.T., we will have no further comment at this time.’
The reasons for Miller’s indefinite leave of absence were not made immediately clear at the time of publishing.
The National Hockey League did not send out a memo stating that Miller entered into the Player Assistance Program, a joint venture by the league and the players’ union to help those struggling with their mental health, substance abuse, or other issues.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Vancouver Canucks for clarification on this matter.
According to Patrick Johnston of the British Columbia newspaper ‘The Province’, Miller’s leave of absence, ‘is not related to substance or alcohol abuse or anything at all like that.’
Johnston added, ‘It’s about giving the player a chance to re-set himself mentally. We know he is obsessed with competing at 100 per cent and we can see he hasn’t been. That’s been weighing on him.’
Johnston also pointed out that Natalie Miller, J.T.’s wife, has shut down her Instagram account.
Miller was reportedly benched late in a loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday night and only logged 12 minutes of ice time.
So far this season, Miller has six goals (a four-way tie for the most on the team) and 16 points (second-most on the team behind defenseman Quinn Hughes).
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