Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland breaks silence on J.T. Miller's surprise leave of absence

Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland says he reached out to his teammate J.T. Miller after he left the club for personal reasons, taking a leave of absence.

It's been a busy week for the Vancouver Canucks, especially Garland and his family.

Garland and his wife Meghan, welcomed their first child, Quinton, into the world in the early hours of Wednesday morning, not long after the Canucks forward suited up for the team in a loss to the New York Rangers, where he found the back of the net.

After a full day spent with his newborn son and his wife, Garland joined the rest of the Vancouver Canucks as they left for their six-game road trip, with the first stop coming in Ottawa on Saturday night.

On that same day, it was announced that J.T. Miller was taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, and on Friday, Garland said despite his busy day, he reached out to his teammate, saying that they all hope the best for him and that they'll be thrilled when he returns to the team.

"I reached out to Millsy and told him, well, I'll keep that between us, but I reached out," Garland said. "Obviously, I had to worry about myself and my wife, but I definitely wanted to play, especially with him (not there). I felt a little bit more urgency. It's tough. Everybody knows about Millsy. He needs some time, and we just hope the best for him. And when he comes back, we'll be so thrilled to have him back," Garland told Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre.

It's great to see that the entire Vancouver Canucks organization has rallied around Miller at this time, and no matter what's going on or his reason for taking a leave of absence, everyone is hoping that he's doing well and that he'll return to the team when he's comfortable to do so.

A report from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman mentioned that there's hope Miller will be back with the Canucks when they return from their road trip in early December.