Colin Stephenson: Rangers' J.T. Miller aims to put disappointing season behind him
Rangers center J.T. Miller sets before a face off against the Winnipeg Jets in the first period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden on March 22, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH — Thursday was the first day of training camp, as J.T. Miller kept reminding the group of reporters surrounding him, so we should all be careful about making any grand proclamations about the upcoming season.
But one thing seems pretty clear about the 2026-27 Rangers: Despite all of the positive changes to the roster and all of the optimism in the locker room about the new talent general manager Chris Drury was able to acquire over the summer, one player in particular — Miller — must have a huge bounce-back season for the team to turn things around after two straight non-playoff campaigns.
Miller, who was reacquired by Drury from the Vancouver Canucks in the midst of a tumultuous 2024-25 season and then named captain before the start of training camp a year ago, had one of the most disappointing seasons of his career in 2025-26. He finished with 17 goals and 53 points and was minus-30 in 68 games as the Rangers finished last in the Eastern Conference.
He was supposed to be the centerpiece of the Blueshirts’ revival, but he suffered a lower-body injury the last week of training camp, started the season playing hurt, was bothered by injuries all season and never seemed to find his footing. Neither did the team. Drury threw in the towel on the season in mid-January, declaring the Rangers would “retool.’’
“I don’t know, it was a lot last year,’’ Miller said Thursday after the Rangers’ first on-ice work. “I feel like [there was] just a little bit of distraction everywhere around our team. Obviously, with the letter [from Drury announcing the retool] coming out, and I was hurt a lot of the year, the Olympics — just a busy season. And I feel like it’s kind of hard to evaluate.
“But . . . I’m certainly not satisfied in saying that that’s the standard for myself,’’ he said. “I mean, we didn’t get to where we wanted to be, and [I] took a lot of ownership for that. So I just feel fresh right now and feel good. And I’m excited that we get another crack at it this year with a fresh slate.’’
That fresh slate comes after Drury made some major changes to the roster. He traded away Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, traded for Pavel Dorofeyev and acquired defensemen Sean Durzi (in the Trocheck deal) and Marcus Pettersson. With some space under the salary cap for a change, he signed free agents Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen and traded for goalie Joonas Korpisalo to back up Igor Shesterkin.
But all of that likely will be moot if Miller isn’t healthy and looking a lot more like his usual 30-goal, 90-point self this season.
With coach Mike Sullivan opting on the first day of camp to keep the line of Gabe Perreault, Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere together, Miller, 33, started out between Dorofeyev, who scored 37 goals last season (plus another 12 in the playoffs) for Vegas, and Bjorkstrand, a six-time 20-goal-scorer.
“I think J.T. is a versatile guy,’’ Sullivan said. “His playmaking ability, I think, is probably undervalued by some. J.T. sees the ice pretty well. I think he has the ability to distribute the puck.
“Pav’s a guy that obviously can score goals, and so we wanted to see what that looks like. Bjorkstrand’s a guy that has shown the ability to finish in this league also.’’
Beyond trying to produce offense for himself and his linemates, Miller will have the responsibility of being captain for the second year. There were times when he seemed to feel the weight of the captaincy last season, but he said he’s learned some things and expects to be more comfortable in the role.
“I think I said to you guys last year, I didn’t think I was trying to do more than normally I would when given the ‘C’,” Miller said. “So I’m trying to be myself on and off the ice. In the meantime, I’m trying to learn from the mistakes last year, take away some of the positives, and I just think with time, things will get better. And I expect more from myself as a leader this year.’’
The Rangers will need him to be a better leader and a better performer this season than last. If he isn’t, it’s hard to see them ending their playoff drought next spring.
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.
