Colin Stephenson: Rangers' J.T. Miller needs to, and wants to, put the team on his back
The Rangers' J.T. Miller celebrates after scoring a goal against the Kings in the first period at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Getty Images/Ronald Martinez
EL SEGUNDO, Calif.
In a lot of ways, the Rangers’ season was centered around J.T. Miller.
The 32-year-old, acquired from Vancouver a year ago for his second tour of duty with the Blueshirts, was supposed to be an upgrade at first-line center over Mika Zibanejad, who struggled last season. At the same time, shifting Zibanejad to right wing to play on Miller’s line was going to upgrade that position.
The Rangers named Miller captain before training camp, believing his strong personality would change the tenor of the locker room, create a new culture and make them harder to play against.
“He goes over the boards looking to get into the fight, and he drags people into it,’’ general manager Chris Drury said at his pre-training camp news conference. “That’s what we need. And we’re excited to have him as our captain.’’
Fast-forward to last Friday, when Drury announced the team will be undergoing a “retool,’’ meaning it essentially will throw in the towel on the season and sell off whatever players it can before the trade deadline.
As the Rangers essentially play out the string with 31 games remaining in the season, more than ever, they need Miller to drag the team into the fight.
And he’s determined to do it.
“I take a ton of ownership for where we’re at as a team,’’ he said after practice Thursday at the Los Angeles Kings’ facility before their flight to San Jose for Friday’s game.
“As the captain, it’s my job, when it’s like this, to make sure our focus is in the right direction,’’ he said. “It’s easy for it to get off the grid right now. It’s my job inside the room to make sure that we’re focused and ready to play, and make sure I’m also leading by example. Nothing really has changed, but right now, I think I might be a little more magnified.’’
The season has been a struggle for Miller.
He suffered an ill-timed injury near the end of training camp that left him compromised at the start of the season. Subsequent injuries forced him to miss a total of nine games and had him playing at less than 100% for most of the season, if not all of it.
Now the Rangers seem to be getting the best of Miller both on the ice and in the locker room. A week after Drury’s announcement, they seem to be playing better despite losing two of three games, and Miller seems a little more at ease than he was in the days after the 10-2 loss in Boston on Jan. 10 and subsequent losses at home against Seattle and Ottawa.
He enters Friday’s game on a four-game point streak in which he has eight points, including two goals in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Kings.
The streak coincides with coach Mike Sullivan changing up the top two forward lines, moving Miller from Vincent Trocheck’s line to one with Zibanejad and rookie Gabe Perreault.
“I think they’ve been excellent for us,’’ Sullivan said after Tuesday’s game. “Mika, I think, has been pretty consistent for us . . . J.T. has had a number of injuries and he’s constantly trying to recapture his game, coming back from injuries. [But] I think he’s getting better with every game that he plays.
“And I think Gabe Perreault is learning right in front of our eyes. He’s making more plays. I think he’s figuring out how to play with those guys.’’
Miller said he thinks his play right now is similar to early in the season, when he and Zibanejad were together and generating offense before an injury to Trocheck forced Sullivan to split up Miller and Zibanejad and move Zibanejad back to center.
When Trocheck returned to the lineup, Sullivan initially put Miller and Zibanejad back together, but when things got “stale, stagnant,’’ according to Miller, the coach put Miller with Trocheck and Zibanejad with Artemi Panarin.
The Zibanejad-Panarin combo was clicking so well that Sullivan was loath to break those two up, but in an effort to get Miller going, he reunited him with Zibanejad (though now it is Zibanejad who is the center and Miller who is on the wing). And it has worked.
“I’m not really feeling a whole lot better [physically],’’ Miller said when asked if improved health has been the reason for his improved production. “But like I said, sometimes when you play well, the pucks go in the net; sometimes you play well, they don’t. I told you [media] from Day One I don’t evaluate myself on points, but obviously it’s nice to chip in and help the team win.’’
It may be too late to help the Rangers get into the playoffs this season, but for their fans, it is good to see.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
