According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, it appears that JT Miller was not the reason there was a locker room rift, as the problems actually started even deeper. No team was handed a worse year than <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/vancouver-canucks/jt-miller-responds-to-comments-from-president-jim-rutherford-on-locker-room-conflict-with-elias-pettersson' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>what happened with all the internal problems</a>, inconsistent results, and lingering injuries with the Vancouver Canucks. Speculation ran wild with such news serving as a big enough distraction, and the theatrics only continued in further acts of drama. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/TSN_Sports/status/1884678509630541884'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> Whether that came as a result of media sensationalism or real-life locker room angst, attention on the team did not stop with JT Miller's exit. <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/vancouver-canucks/former-nhl-star-and-ex-canuck-slams-the-team-over-shocking-jt-miller-trade' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>His shadow still lingers over the organization,</a> even though he is no longer a part of the Canucks. <h3>Miller's personal leave was due to a disagreement with Rick Tocchet</h3> According to Sportsnet analyst <a href='https://x.com/FriedgeHNIC' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Elliotte Friedman</a>, Miller took his leave following an argument with head coach Rick Tocchet and a confirmed disagreement with Elias Pettersson. Most thought that when he was gone, tensions would subside. They did not, and things came to a head with the end result being a trade that, though not necessarily fair to him, was required for the group to move on and find their identity. When Miller came back from his leave things just didn't get better in terms of the relationship and the stress and things like that, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said. I think everybody hoped he would come back and things would change and they didn't. I think that was when the decision was made, that they were gonna move on. - Friedman Now, with the new team, it has been the praise coming from Mika Zibanejad, who loves his leadership and communication both on the ice and on the bench. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/SNYRangers/status/1886232946727629164'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> That's quite the ringing endorsement against the notion that Miller was a kind of locker-room divider.