“Zero answer, zero pushback”: NHL insider issues bold take on ‘ugly’ J.T. Miller-Elias Pettersson drama amid Canucks’ slumping season

The Vancouver Canucks' season has taken a downturn with rumors of a rift between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. On January 17’s "TSN OverDrive," Farhan Lalji discussed the team’s struggles and the unresolved tension between the two players.

"The Canucks look like they quit last night." Lalji said, "And they've looked like that games where you score a couple of goals on them, and then everything around them sets in, and they just have zero answers, zero response, zero pushback. This is a team that looks like they've quit."

"I'm not saying they've quit on their coach. I think Rick Tocchet has done a great job. And you know, he's as much a victim of what's going on around him." Lalji added.

Speculations of a conflict began in October after a brief scuffle during practice. Both players have denied the rumors, with Miller blaming the media and Pettersson calling the stories false.

"When you look at what's happened with this team and the storylines..., " Lalji said, "not a lot has changed in the last two to three weeks from when the Pettersson-Miller conversation began to rear its ugly head again... They haven't done anything to stop that conversation.

"So people keep talking about it because they've done nothing. I mean. JT Miller missed 10 games. He's played in 17 games since, and he scored in one of those 17 games. It's, you know, when you look at how this team is playing. Patterson gives us a few moments here and there."

The Canucks were 13-7-3 in early December but now sit at 19-15-10, slipping to 5th in the Pacific Division. Management may need to resolve the conflict quickly or consider trading one or both players to move forward.

Canucks' poor performance amid J.T. Miller-Elias Pettersson drama

J.T. Miller has 29 points in 34 games, far from his career-high 103 points last season. Elias Pettersson has 29 points in 38 games, also below his career-high 102-point total.

Miller has eight goals and 21 assists, while Pettersson has 10 goals and 19 assists. Pettersson plays more minutes, averaging 19:05 per game compared to Miller’s 17:51. So, clearly Pettersson has a larger role in the team’s play.

In wins, Miller has 15 points, and Pettersson has 17 points. Both players are important in victories but need to improve in losses for the Canucks to succeed. Both players have struggled in losses, with Miller at -15 and Pettersson at -14.

The Canucks need their top players to perform well to turn the season around.