Huge demotion for J.T. Miller after heated exchange with Rick Tocchet on the bench last night!

It was yet another embarrassing outing by the Vancouver Canucks on home ice Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings, dropping the game 5-1 with the first three goals scored on just four shots on goalie Thatcher Demko.

In the contest, forward J.T. Miller played a team low 9:25 at even-strength and logged 14:34 in ice time, 17 seconds less than Phil Di Giuseppe.

This is a huge demotion for the star forward, who’s been at the heart of many trade rumours and one controversial feud in the Canucks’ dressing room, supposedly with teammate Elias Pettersson.

After the game, head coach Rick Tocchet attempted to explain Miller’s demotion with this statement:

“He’s struggling. He’s caught in between. You know, it seems like every time he’s on the ice, something bad happens. I think he’s got some bad luck, but he’s also got some reads that he’s got to – big pause – he’s got to look at himself right now and focus on some of these reads. You can’t dive in on the four-on-four, things like that. I think he’s trying, [but] sometimes the focus level has to get a little higher.”

Fans were quick to post video of Miller struggling on the ice, with many saying that he often appeared to give up on plays or not even care at all.

During the game, as it became clear that Miller was going to spend most of it on the bench, a heated exchange between he and coach Tocchet started trending on social media.

In the video below, you can see the argument between Miller and Tocchet before the forward heads down the bench and sits at the end of it.

Miller did well against the Montreal Canadiens during the Canucks’ first game of their road trip, putting up a two-goal, four-point night. However, besides that outing, he’s has been held pointless, finishing a five-game span as a minus-five rating while averaging 15:56 minutes of ice time. That’s two minutes under his season average and three and a half minutes under his average last season.

Overall on the season, Miller has recorded just eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points with a minus-six rating. He now faces a tough challenge over the weekend when Vancouver host the Edmonton Oilers.

Who knows if Miller will see less ice time following the heated exchange with coach Tocchet and his poor performance last night…