Things are not going well these days for the Vancouver Canucks.
The team has only two victories in its last eight games (2-3-3) despite the return of JT Miller for six games. Result: the Canucks are only one point ahead of the Dallas Stars and in last place in the playoffs.
And as problems rarely arise alone, several rumors resurface that JT Miller and Elias Pettersson are at loggerheads.
The two star players have had a difficult relationship for a while now, according to Bruce Boudreau, who led the Canucks for two seasons before being fired in January 2024.
Still according to the former coach, the problems between the two players date back to before his arrival at the head of the team while they have been teammates since the 2019-20 season.
Of course, both players deny the rumors and they both claim there are no problems between them.
However, it's rare to see professionals washing their dirty laundry in public and since there's rarely smoke without fire, it's not hard to see that something is amiss in the Vancouver locker room.
And it's not just the team's performance that suffers, but also that of both players.
Since Miller's return to play, Pettersson has no points in six games after maintaining a pace of almost one point per game since the start of the season (26 points in 27 games).
Miller's side is a little better with four points since his return, but only one in his last four games.
However, if the British Columbia club wants to ensure that it participates in the spring tournament and makes some progress there, it must ensure that its two star players are happy and ready to give their full performance.
So this is a problem that the organization is going to have to quickly resolve before it really becomes a source of distraction, but what is the solution?
Can current coach Rick Tocchet resolve the conflict between the two players? Or should the staff sacrifice one of the two players via a trade and if so, risk losing out on the potential return of a trade because of the current situation?
In short, another interesting file to follow.
In burst
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– Hyman is on fire.
