If first impressions count, J.T. Miller knows how to make a good one – at least over the phone.
The newest Canuck spoke to the media for the first time Monday from his home in Pittsburgh where he didn't hold much back, sharing his thoughts on everything from the trade to moving his family to the West Coast.
"The only – if there was any – the only negative I guess would be travelling as far from home, is that it's almost 3,000 miles away, but other than that, now that this opportunity is here, we're all excited and it's all positivity moving forward," Miller said.
The Ohio native said Vancouver has always been one of his favourite cities to visit on the road, and is excited to share it with his wife, Natalie, and two daughters, 14-month-old Scottlyn and six-week-old Scarlett.
Vancouver will be Miller's third team, after spending the last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Before that, he played for six years with the New York Rangers. Miller said because the salary cap was so tight in Tampa, he knew a trade was a possibility.
"I had to look at it realistically. Obviously when you sign long term with a team, you have the assumption that you'll be there for a long time. But I understand the season didn't end the way anyone wanted it to…and with how tight the cap was there was a chance that if the right deal came along for both teams I could have been the guy and obviously that's what happened."
Miller said he excited to slot in alongside the young players on the Canucks roster, as general manager Jim Benning says it looks like he'll play on the second line alongside Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson.
While Miller, at 26, is just a few years older than the two, he said he's eager to provide a mentorship role.
"That was one of the first things I thought about after I found out," Miller told CTV News. "I learned a lot over the last three to five years. First of all, having great teammates that were veterans that can help me along the way, it's something I still work at and try to be better at is being a leader, being someone the young guys can look up to."
"There's so much young talent, it's always fun to play against these guys and now to be a part of it is going to be really cool," Miller continued. "There's tons of potential on this team and obviously I'm going to do whatever I can to push for the players and help get in there."
The young players and future of the team is exactly what caused uproar on social media following the trade. Fans were quick to voice their frustrations – not because of the player the team acquired - but rather what they gave up to get him.
Benning sent a third round pick along with a conditional first round pick in one of the next two years. The problem, for fans, lies with Benning giving up that first rounder.
But the Canucks general manager doesn't see it that way.
"With the conditional pick, if we don't make the playoffs next year, we're protected with lottery protection and it moves to 2021 as a first-round pick," Benning told the media following the draft Saturday. "So, if we do make the playoffs next year, it just speeds up the process of where we're at in our rebuild and just pushes it further ahead."
Miller had 47 points in 75 regular season games last season and is under contract for four more years at $5.25 million a year.
