J.T. Miller‘s role with the New York Rangers has grown over the past few years. Playing in more games in each passing season, Miller went from 30 games in 2013-14 to almost double that with 58 games last year. Now it seems his Hartford Wolfpack days are finally behind him as we head into the first contest of 2015-16.
But where exactly in the Rangers lineup should Miller stay?
Let’s start with either the top or the bottom six.
The 22-year-old is becoming a handy two-way player. He scored 10 goals with 23 points in the regular season along with 28 blocked shots and a whopping 89 hits. Doing all of that in 58 games is no small feat for a relatively new guy. He also recorded one goal and eight points in the Playoffs – also impressive.
And most recently, Miller scored a beauty against the Boston Bruins in the last preseason game, sending a perfectly timed snap shot past Jonas Gustavsson.
Miller has his flashes of brilliance, obviously.
But, until he can show consistency and promise over 30 or 40 points (replacing either Carl Hagelin or Martin St. Louis‘ numbers) he should remain in the bottom six.
Now where does Miller fit in the bottom six?
One of the most impressive things about him is how he’s improving at the dot. Miller had a low face-off percentage during the regular season at 45.4% (winning 93 out of 205 face-offs). Then in the Playoffs, he finished with the second best face-off percentage out of all the Rangers, winning 30 out of 55 for a 54.5% (right behind Dom Moore with 55.9%).
New York Rangers
With that said, I could stop right here and say Miller should be a third line center. However, Miller has some competition as Jarret Stoll and Oscar Lindberg are also viable options for the third line center.
Stoll is lightyears more experienced than Miller at the dot with over 1,000 face-offs in the last regular season. With a much larger sample size, Stoll recorded a convincing 51.0%. Not bad.
Lindberg, on the other hand, recorded a stunning 67% winning 8 out of 12 in the last preseason game. A way smaller sample size, but eye-catching nonetheless. Not to mention his winning the 2015 Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award for being the top rookie in training camp. That turned some heads no doubt.
So as long as Stoll and Lindberg can give their top notch performance at center, Miller belongs on the wing on the third line. That’s exactly what the Rangers’ projected lineup shows, that’s where Miller scored that beautiful goal in the video above and that’s exactly where he should be heading into this season.
Though, should Stoll or Lindberg drop in performance, Miller should be shifted over to center on the third or fourth line. He’s a natural center. If there’s any chance for Miller to play at his natural position, he should play there.
This will be Miller’s fourth year in New York. As time goes on, Miller is gaining valuable experience and is still learning. If he can keep on track and keep improving his game this season, who’s to say he can’t take back his spot at third line center?
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