The New York Rangers are looking to rebound after finishing third worst in the entire NHL last season; by moves such as acquiring Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi to improve their top-four and getting more scoring options with star Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand, it looks as if president and general manager Chris Drury is banking on this team rebounding and being a playoff contender.
But if the team wants any shot in being possibly being a playoff team come April they're going to need one player to regain his once star form, J.T. Miller.
Trading for J.T. Miller
The Rangers took a gamble in reacquiring the disgruntled Canucks centerman during their disappointing 2024-25 season. Miller played 32 games with the Blueshirts that season where he was over a point per game with 13 goals, 35 points during that span. Miller had a 50% expected goals share (xGF%) with a mediocre 2.36 expected goals for per sixty (xGF/60) during stretch and generating a solid 11.48 high danger chances for (HDCF)/60, so considering the context of how unremarkable the team was it could've been a lot worse.
At minimum Miller provided a small spark in an uninspired Rangers team with his on ice 3.39 goals for (GF)/60, and even if the results showed that he was due for some regression due to his on ice results far exceeding what the analytics suggested he was going to be a major catalyst if the Rangers wanted to get back into the playoffs during 2025-26.
2025-26 couldn't have gone worse
Now back to the present, the Rangers somehow saw themselves even further down in the standings and J.T. Miller had his worst season since 2018-19, eight years ago. A major connection between the Rangers record in the standings and Miller's bad season was that injuries plagued both.
Sullivan on managing J.T. Miller, who admitted he didn't feel great last night coming off a lower-body injury late in camp:
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) October 8, 2025
"We're gonna have to take it day by day. Obviously, J.T. missed a fair amount of training camp, as did Bread. So, those two guys are jumping on a moving…
Miller suffered a lower-body injury during training camp that saw him miss the majority of preseason but at the time it was thought to not be serious. However during the first game of the season it was clear this injury was very much hindering the Rangers new captain's play. Miller would play in 35 of the Rangers first 42 games being in and out due to a multitude of injuries, including one that kept him out for almost three weeks from late December to early January.
Then to add salt to the wound, after the Olympic break Miller was put on injured reserve following the Rangers loss to the Blue Jackets due to a new upper-body injury. Overall, J.T. Miller played in 68 games scoring 17 goals and 53 points, 33 at even strength. It also didn't help that during the worst of stretches it was clear frustration was taking ahold of him.
Can J.T. Miller bounce back?
Compared to Miller's 32 games with the Rangers during the early parts of 2025; New York's captain did do a better job at generating scoring chances with a 2.59 xGF/60 and 13.08 HDCF/60 both being the best among all forwards on the team. Furthermore, when the calendar flipped to the new year Miller's scoring did pick up with 31 points in 33 games but on the contrast only 13 at even strength during that stretch.
Just like they drew it up 😌 pic.twitter.com/IZUSBivjnB
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 31, 2026
At least Miller did start contributing offensively again compared to his rough (for his standards) 22 points in 35 games to start the season so the offense did slowly start to return, but the Rangers are going to need more from him at even strength if they want to crawl back into playoff contention.
Plus now that Vincent Trocheck is gone J.T. Miller will be placed as the team's second line center; which could actually be for the best since Miller has stated he does feel more comfortable at center than at wing.
Something that will help Miller produce more efficiently for this upcoming season is that his linemates to start will be a lot better than who he played with to end 2025-26. Two of Alexis Lafreniere, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Gabe Perreault will likely flank Zibanejad on the top line, which leaves the remaining one playing alongside J.T. Miller and plausibly Will Cuylle or Oliver Bjorkstrand if Chris Drury doesn't add anyone new.
Having two better scorers at his wing will at minimum be a huge upgrade over Conor Sheary, who isn't a lock to play in the Sabres lineup next season, and Tye Kartye, likely slotting in the Rangers bottom-six with how good he looked after being claimed off waivers. Chris Drury has given Miller the tools to go back to being a positive contributor now it's time for the Rangers captain to prove his age isn't catching up to him.
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