#5. J.T. Miller
J.T. Miller’s breakout over the last two seasons played a major role in New York’s sustained success. Both the 15-16 and 16-17 Rangers squads leaned on an extremely deep group of forwards to overcome a shaky defense.
The departures of Derek Stepan and Oscar Lindberg may force Miller to shift back to center and contribute even more on offense. He could struggle to match those expectations, though.
Miller’s increased scoring coincides with a skyrocketing shooting percentage. He scored on more than 16 percent of his shots on goal over the last two years. The league average shooting percentage over that time is around nine percent.
Obviously, some players have better shots than others, but 16 percent is exceedingly high. For example, Sidney Crosby’s career shooting percentage is 14.7 percent.
If Miller’s shooting percentage drops, he must shoot the puck more. His highest shot total in a season is 135. In comparison, Rick Nash and Chris Kreider have exactly one season between them with at least 40 games played and fewer than 150 shots.
Miller could also stand to tighten up his defensive play. The Rangers yielded opposing shot attempts with Miller on the ice at the highest rate of any forward on the team last season.