The Rangers are betting big that J.T. Miller can turn the clock back.
After finishing third worst in the NHL last season, New York has spent the offseason trying to patch up the roster, adding Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi to strengthen the top four while bringing in more offense through Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand. The message from president and general manager Chris Drury is clear: the Rangers are trying to get back to being a playoff team. But that plan only works if Miller rediscovers the form that once made him a star.
That gamble started when the Rangers reacquired the disgruntled Canucks centerman during their disappointing 2024-25 season. In 32 games with the Blueshirts, Miller was over a point per game, finishing with 13 goals and 35 points.
The underlying numbers were solid enough, too - a 50% expected goals share, 2.36 expected goals for per sixty, and 11.48 high danger chances for per sixty. For a team that wasn’t giving him much help, that production wasn’t nothing.
He also gave the Rangers at least a jolt when they badly needed one. Miller posted a 3.39 goals for per sixty at even strength during that stretch, and even if some regression was always coming, he still looked like a player New York could build around if the team was serious about getting back into the postseason in 2025-26.
Then came a season that went sideways fast.
Miller’s 2025-26 campaign was his worst since 2018-19, and injuries were a major reason both he and the Rangers sank in the standings. He dealt with a lower-body injury in training camp, missed most of the preseason, and didn’t look right once the games started. He ended up playing in 35 of the Rangers’ first 42 games, bouncing in and out of the lineup with several injuries, including one that sidelined him for nearly three weeks from late December into early January.
After the Olympic break, the situation got worse. Miller was placed on injured reserve after the Rangers’ loss to the Blue Jackets because of an upper-body injury.
By the end of it all, he had played 68 games, scored 17 goals and totaled 53 points, with 33 coming at even strength. And during the roughest stretches, his frustration was impossible to miss.
Even with all that, there were signs of life as the season wore on. Miller actually generated better scoring chances than he had in his 32-game run with the Rangers the year before, posting a 2.59 xGF/60 and 13.08 HDCF/60, both team highs among forwards.
His scoring also picked up after the calendar turned, as he put up 31 points in 33 games. The catch was that only 13 of those points came at even strength.
So the production returned, but not enough of it in the right spots. If the Rangers are going to claw their way back into playoff contention, they need more from Miller five-on-five.
There’s at least a path for that to happen. With Vincent Trocheck gone, Miller is expected to handle second-line center duties, and that may suit him just fine. He has said he feels more comfortable down the middle than on the wing, and New York appears ready to let him settle there.
The help around him should also be better. The Rangers are expected to open with two of Alexis Lafreniere, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Gabe Perreault alongside Mika Zibanejad on the top line, which would leave the remaining winger to skate with Miller. That spot could go to Will Cuylle or Oliver Bjorkstrand if Drury doesn’t make another move.
That’s a much better setup than what Miller dealt with late last season. Conor Sheary, who isn’t a lock to be in the Sabres lineup next season, and Tye Kartye, who looked good after being claimed off waivers and is likely headed for the Rangers’ bottom six, are not the kind of wingers that tilt the ice. This time, Miller should have more support.
Drury has put the pieces around him. Now it’s on Miller to show his age isn’t catching up to him.
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