Canucks insider reports that the team is lying about JT Miller's leave of absence

UPDATE 2: The Province's Ben Kuzma reports that Miller's absence from the lineup has to do with an upper body injury that has been hampering him all season.

From Kuzma:

- Ben Kuzma

If that's the case though, why wouldn't the Canucks just place Miller on injured reserve? Maybe he needs to make his mind up on a surgery? I dunno... something's not adding up here.

Read below for our earlier reports on this developing story.

UPDATE: Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal reports that JT Miller has left the team for a "reset" and that he just needs some "time and space."

After it was uncovered by fans that Miller's wife Natalie Miller had deleted her Instagram account earlier today, it was rumored that the couple had issues and that led to Miller's leave. Nonsense, says Dahliwal.

"Whenever there's a personal leave everybody jumps to conclusions. Alcohol, family related... I get it. Everybody wants the juicy National Enquirer story. Everybody wants the sinister thing. There is nothing sinister going on here. This is a player that needs a reset. Some time and space."

"Remember the Corey Perry / Connor Bedard story and someone just threw it out and everybody believed it and it was a lie. What I've been told this morning is that he needs a reset. He just got benched. He's had a tough year with injuries. He's in a Canadian market. He's got four days off before the next game, maybe it's just a reset for a player who needs some time and space."

From Dhaliwal:

Again, today's news comes on the heels of Miller being benched by head coach Rick Tocchet in the 3rd period of Sunday's loss to the Nashville Predators.

Read below for our earlier report on this developing story.

This just in, the Vancouver Canucks have announced that star forward JT Miller has left the team and is taking an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons.

The 31 year old forward has 6 goals and 16 points in 17 games to start the season. It's worth noting that he was benched for the majority of the 3rd period in the Canucks' 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday evening.

Miller has struggled a bit in the absence of winger Brock Boeser and has seen shaking his hand or wrist in recent games, leading to rumors that he has some sort of undisclosed injury. However, if that were the case then I'm not sure he'd be taking personal leave from the team. We can only speculate on the issue at hand, which isn't fair without the proper information. 

All the best to Miller and his family. I'm sure this wasn't an easy decision for him to make.