Why the Leafs NEED to circle back on J.T. Miller
The Vancouver Canucks were outmanned, outmatched, outmuscled and just flat outplayed by the Washington Capitals through two periods of play on Friday. Head coach Bruce Boudreau was on his way to the locker room with the intent of waking up his team, when he was approached by one of the team's captains. His message to the coach?
J.T. Miller is a lot of things, but the one thing that he is not is content with losing. That's why when he approached Boudreau after the second period to tell the veteran coach that he'd handle it, Boudreau knew that he meant it.
We don't know what was said during the 2nd intermission, but we do know that it sparked a comeback in the 3rd period with goals by Quinn Hughes and captain Bo Horvat (x2) and that Miller was at the center of it all with a pair of assists.
The Canucks did end up losing in overtime, but picked up a valuable point in the standings with their 3rd period surge to pull ahead of the Caps briefly, before Evgeny Kuznetsov completed his hat trick to tie the game and force OT.
This is one of the primary reasons why the Maple Leafs should circle back to Vancouver on Miller at the trade deadline, in my opinion. Miller is not content with losing. It's not like the guys in Toronto's locker room enjoy losing either, but they definitely lack that voice in the room that's going to light a fire under the team when they're down in games.
In this case, sure, the Canucks still lost, but whatever Miller said to the team resonated enough with them to scratch and claw their way back in the third period. It's that sort of leadership that could benefit the Leafs come playoff time when the games really begin to matter. Having someone like Miller in last year's series against Montreal could have been a real difference-maker. With one of Tampa, Florida or Boston as the Leafs' round one opponents this spring is not going to be any easier. A voice like J.T. Miller's could be the key to postseason success in Toronto.
The cost is reportedly high, but there's no doubt that the Leafs have the pieces to get a deal done. They have their first round picks this season and next, they have prospects and they have roster players with term who would be expendable in a deal for an upgrade like Miller. Think along the lines of Kerfoot (a Vancouver native), Niemela, Abramov, their 2022 1st round pick and possibly an additional 2023 conditional pick should the Leafs make the Finals.
| POLL | ||
MARS 12 | 245 ANSWERS Why the Leafs NEED to circle back on J.T. Miller Should the Leafs circle back on J.T. Miller? | ||
| Absolutely | 77 | 31.4 % |
| They don't need a winger | 62 | 25.3 % |
| Defense is the answer | 66 | 26.9 % |
| They're not winning anything unless they get a goa | 40 | 16.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
