J.T. Miller didn’t exactly hide from the spotlight during Spittin’ Chiclets’ latest Sandbagger Scramble. If anything, he leaned into it.
The Rangers captain teed it up with former teammate Vincent Trocheck and former NHL defenseman Mark Pysyk for a round that mixed golf, cocktails and plenty of chirping from hosts Paul Bissonnette, Ryan Whitney and Keith Yandle. For Miller, a true scratch golfer, the setting seemed to bring out the loose, funny version of himself that fans rarely got to see during a frustrating 2025-26 season.
The cameras caught him joking about his own play, the Rangers’ disappointing year, boos at Madison Square Garden and even the possibility of being traded. He came across as relaxed and sharp, with the kind of self-awareness that made the whole thing feel a lot more natural than the stiff interview sessions fans were used to seeing around games last season.
The Olympic talk started early and never really let up. Miller and Trocheck both revisited Team USA’s gold-medal run in February, and the jokes about their medals came fast. Before the round even got rolling, Miller quipped, “Wait till I mark my ball with a Gold Medal,” and the Chiclets crew kept reminding Pysyk that he was the only one in the group without one.
The stories from Milan-Cortina were just as good. Miller said Team USA players weren’t allowed to have alcohol in the Olympic Village, so they enlisted help from Czechia players.
“The Czech guys were smuggling us booze,” Miller said.
He also said most guys hid alcohol in bags or under their shirts to get through security, while Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres simply walked in carrying cases over his shoulder and nobody stopped him.
Miller and Trocheck also looked back on overtime of the gold-medal game, when both assumed their night was over because they were fourth-liners. Miller joked that his skates were already undone before Trocheck was suddenly called for a face-off in overtime after thinking he was done for the night.
The golf outing also gave the group plenty of room to poke at Miller’s first season in New York, and he didn’t dodge any of it. His 53-point campaign in 2025-26 made him a target, especially when Spittin’ Chiclets contributor Pasha Eshghi, a Devils fan, called him a “power-play merchant.”
Whitney then repeated Miller’s sarcastic answer to that criticism: “Yeah, because guys who get 100 points never get them on the power play.”
That was a direct nod to Miller’s career-best 103-point season with Vancouver in 2023-24, and it was used to swat down Pasha’s jab. Still, Miller admitted there was plenty of material to work with based on his own season and the Rangers’ results.
“Last year, for sure. Let it rip. I had six five-on-five points last year, and four of them were in camp,” Miller quipped.
The group kept going, including jokes about the Rangers missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Trocheck added, “Pasha was waiting for someone to bring up how bad the Rangers are,” while Bissonnette piled on with, “Imagine if you guys didn’t have a goalie,” a reference to Igor Shesterkin’s strong play in 2025-26.
Miller later got in one more self-deprecating line when asked whether he’d rather be on the power play or the penalty kill at Madison Square Garden.
“PK. I don’t like getting booed,” Miller deadpanned.
Of course, no Miller appearance would be complete without Elias Pettersson entering the chat. The former Canucks captain’s relationship with Pettersson came up when Bissonnette joked, right in Miller’s backswing, that he was “getting bullied more than ‘Petey’ on the Canucks.”
Trocheck immediately called it out.
“That was in his backswing. That was so dirty,” Trocheck said.
Miller answered, “Petey in my backswing is crazy,” then followed with the line that made the segment impossible to miss.
“I went to rehab for that,” Miller said, before adding, “Dude, they had no minibar.”
He also said the crew didn’t need to cut any of his Pettersson comments from the episode.
Later, Whitney revisited the idea that Miller has a “dominant personality” in the locker room and circled back to Pettersson again, keeping the teasing rolling.
The round eventually brought Rangers general manager Chris Drury into the mix, too. By then, Miller and Bissonnette were clearly enjoying themselves, with the two practically draped on each other in the golf cart.
When Bissonnette joked that Drury couldn’t even trade Miller for a third-round pick, Miller played right along.
“And that’s OK because if he tries to, I quit.”
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Oilers Suddenly Have A Goalie Debate Fans Can't Ignore
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The same offseason buzz has also touched Connor Hellebuyck, with speculation that Edmonton could be a place he might consider if a trade conversation ever takes shape. Elsewhere, Evander Kane found himself back in the spotlight after answering social media allegations from a former teammate, a reminder that the goalie market and the free agent market both come with plenty of noise before anything actually gets decided. [Read more 🡒]