Rangers' Miller Looks Out of Sorts

When the New York Rangers acquired J.T. Miller in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks last season, they expected a lot from him.

For starters, they wanted him to contribute offensively. When he was with the Canucks, Miller was consistently one of their best offensive players.

The team also expected leadership both on and off the ice. Rangers General Manager Chris Drury knew that Miller, 32, was a player who was direct, led by example, and worked hard every single game.

Going into this season, it was expected that Miller would be a leader offensively and as the team's captain both on and off the ice. With a new head coach in place and a clean slate, those expectations seemed more than reasonable.

Unfortunately for both Miller and the Rangers, he has come up short in both areas. This has especially been the case when it comes to his production so far this season.

While he did score two goals against the Colorado Avalanche in his team's 6-3 loss on Thursday night, November 20, in Denver, it is not enough to justify his total offensive output so far this season. As of this writing (Friday, November 21), Miller is fourth on the team in scoring with 12 points (six goals and six assists).

While the team leader in points, Artemi Panarin (19 points on five goals and 14 assists), is only seven points in front of him, it does not excuse the way Miller's offensive game has been up to this point in the season. In fact, it also shows just how inept the Rangers' offense has been as a whole this season.

One reason why Miller is struggling is because it is clear that he is gripping the stick a bit tighter than normal these days. The team he is the captain of is not winning at Madison Square Garden, is not scoring enough on home ice, and more importantly, the team is not winning enough hockey games, period.

Another reason why he is not playing well is because he is probably not used to not picking up points. In his last three and a half seasons with the Canucks and half a season with the Blueshirts, here is what Miller did offensively:

- 2021-22: 32 goals and 67 assists for 99 points
- 2022-23: 32 goals and 50 assists for 82 points
- 2023-24: 37 goals and 66 assists for 103 points
- 2024-25: 22 goals and 48 assists for 70 points (35 of those points came in 32 games with the Rangers)

Clearly, Miller has it in him to produce. With that said, that has not been the case so far this year.

In speaking with Peter Baugh of The Athletic after his team's 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on November 18, in Las Vegas, Miller acknowledged his offensive struggles.

“I don’t expect to have a point-per-game every season, but I certainly feel I can be a little farther along than where I’m at now,” he said.

Something else that is making Miller look bad is his body language on the ice. A perfect example of this came on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

On this particular play, Miller got beat along the boards in his own zone by Golden Knights' forward Pavel Dorofeyev. He then proceeded to let Dorofeyev go around him, make a pass to defenseman Ben Hutton, who was driving towards the net, and Hutton put one past Rangers' goaltender Igor Shesterkin to make it 2-0 about four minutes into the second period.

In watching the play more closely, it appears as Miller gives up on the play. He does not hustle to get Dorofeyev off the puck, and instead watches the opponent put the puck in the net.

That is something that simply cannot happen and should not be allowed to happen by any player on this Rangers' hockey club. To have your team captain do that is inexcusable.

Lastly, one has to wonder if Miller is still fighting the lower-body injury he sustained in training camp. During a power-play drill, he lunged for the puck and ended the play by grabbing the back of his left leg.

If his poor play is due to this particular injury, than the team may want to have him get it checked out and rest. In order for Miller to be helpful and productive, he needs to be healthy.

No matter what is going on with Miller right now, his play needs to change. He needs to start producing and start being an impact player in all three zones on the ice.

If he is not able to do so, one will have to wonder if the team made the right decision in naming him captain.