The New York Rangers have had a wild 48 hours: on Friday night, the Blueshirts traded for superstar JT Miller, and on Saturday afternoon, he scored two goals in a 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins.
Obviously, the trade is huge and changes up the outlook for the Rangers not only for this season, but for years to come. But the current matter is that New York needs to start winning games and picking up points. After three consecutive losses, New York finds itself six points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern conference.
Sunday night, the Rangers return to Madison Square Garden with a chance to bounce back, where they welcome in the Vegas Golden Knights (31-15-6). If the Rangers are going to flip the page on this season, it needs to start sooner rather than later. Here's three players to watch:
1. JT Miller
To put it plain and simple, JT Miller is going to change the Rangers core for years to come. On Friday night, Miller was acquired by New York, along with Elias Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington, for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and a protected first round pick.
Miller is one of the premium centers in the NHL. In his past three seasons, he has been over a point-per-game player and in the 2023-2024 campaign set a career high with 103 points (37 G, 66 A). So far this season, he has 37 points in 41 games, including the two goals scored in his Rangers' re-debut.
The 31-year-old was drafted 15th overall by the Rangers in the 2011 NHL entry draft, and throughout his time in New York he became a reliable player. But, he took the next step in Vancouver; Miller became someone who can change a game any night.
Moreover, Miller provides a lot that this Rangers core doesn't have. He's tough-nosed, willing to get into someone's face, is not going to shy away from problems and holds people accountable. Per Rangers fans, this is what a lot of the core needs.
It was evident in his first game with New York on Saturday afternoon -- he scored in the first period and was a threat whenever he was on the ice. As the Rangers push for the playoffs, having a superstar like this changes a lot.
2. Jonathan Quick
Assuming Quick gets the start against Vegas, he will be searching for his 400th career win. Quick has been stuck on 399 wins for a month now; his last win was on Jan. 2 against Boston in a 2-1 victory.
In the three games since, the 39-year-old has a 0-1-2 record, but has given up 16 goals. Though it is hard to hold Quick completely accountable -- he made some huge saves in every game just to get the Rangers a point -- New York needs good goaltending down the stretch.
For a lot of his short Rangers career, Quick has provided the heroics necessary to win games. That needs to be the case against Vegas, who is fourth in the NHL in goals per game.
3. The defense
It's hard to do a singular player when talking about the Rangers defense, as everyone on the blue line could be held accountable. New York's defense in the past three games has not been up to standard, giving up five, four and five (and one empty net) goals.
A main reason New York experienced a resurgence in January was that their defense took a major step forward. There were a bunch of games, such as Jan. 11 at Vegas, where they were able to stifle top offensive opponents. But, over the past few games, this has not been the case. New York has given up way too many high quality chances.
This falls upon all of the defensemen that New York has, whether Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Will Borgen, K'Andre Miller, Braden Schneider or Urho Vaakanainen. All have to limit mistakes and provide a good blanket in front of whoever is in net.