It's a miracle!
Less than a week after the Vancouver Canucks reported that J.T. Miller would be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Miller will be back in the lineup on Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild.
Miller missed just one game with his mysterious injury, sitting out the Canucks' road game against the Dallas Stars on Monday. In fact, it's such a quick return from a supposedly week-to-week injury that it's suspicious.
The injury was reported just as trade rumours were swirling around Miller and the Pittsburgh Penguins. According to The Athletic's Rob Rossi, the Canucks approached Penguins' general manager Ron Hextall about a Miller trade.
Those trade talks reached an impasse, however. While the Penguins cleared cap space to acquire a forward, that forward turned out to be Mikael Granlund, a move that had many scratching their heads if not outright calling for Hextall to be fired.
Is it just a coincidence that Miller was scratched and sat out a game as talks with the Penguins were heating up and now that those trade talks have ceased he's back in the lineup?
If it is a coincidence, it's a mighty strange one. If Miller had a minor injury where it would make sense for him to return after less than a week, why was it not reported as a day-to-day injury? Why did the Canucks say it was week-to-week?
So which is it? Did the Canucks flat-out lie about Miller having an injury or did he have an injury that was expected to keep him out indefinitely, only for him to suddenly be fine three days later?
