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Key reason Rangers strategy not ‘falling into place like it was meant to’
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- Key reason Rangers strategy not ‘falling into place like it was meant to’
James Guillory-Imagn Images
They are a myriad of reasons why the New York Rangers decided to raise the white flag and enter into a retool phase. But one of the team's veteran beat writers believes there's something that stands out above all else.
Newsday's Colin Stephenson told Forever Blueshirts that, in his opinion, J.T. Miller's disappointing season is at the heart of the Rangers struggles.
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"Whatever the reason, he's not been what he was expected to be. And with him not being that, everything else is not falling into place like it was meant to," Stephenson explained on the RINK RAP podcast .
The Rangers acquired Miller nearly a year ago, on Jan. 31 last season, in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks . They did so seeking to shake up their core by adding a player who brings equal parts skill, smarts, toughness, grit, and fire. When the Rangers named Miller the 29th captain in franchise history, general manager Chris Drury and coach Mike Sullivan emphasized his ability to "drag others into the fight."
Though his intentions remain commendable, Miller's on-ice struggles drag the Rangers down, Stephenson believes. Miller, who recorded 103 points with the Canucks two seasons ago, and had 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games with the Rangers after the trade last season, is currently tied for fourth on the team with 28 points in 40 games.
"What's happened, whether it's because of injuries or because of some other reason, J.T. hasn't been the player you were hoping and expecting he would be," Stephenson stated. "He's not a point-per-game player. You brought him in because he scored a 100 points one year … and everything else is not falling into place."
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The Rangers (21-22-6) are 27th in the NHL , averaging 2.65 goals-for per game. Their scoring woes at Madison Square Garden stand out even more so, since their five home wins are fewest in the Eastern Conference. Miller's been increasingly frustrated as the season progresses. The Rangers backslid after a hopeful start, and recently Mika Zibanejad and Braden Schneider each characterized the team's mental state as "fragile."
That's not exactly what Drury and Sullivan expected when they discussed their new captain "dragging others into the fight." But Stephenson's not wrong pointing out Miller's health issues being a major factor for his struggles this season. Miller missed nine games already due to injury.
"He suffered a lower-body injury in the last week of training camp. He obviously wasn't healthy at the start of the season, so he got off to a poor start," Stephenson said. "He's battled with, I think we can say, shoulder injuries. They say upper body, but you see where the ice pack is when you go into the locker room. So, he's got a shoulder injury that he's been bothered by. He missed two games with an injury and then came back and missed seven games with the same injury.
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"So, yes, he is banged up in a physical way, and that may be part of the reason why he has not produced the numbers you were hoping for. And maybe he shouldn't be playing, quite frankly, but he's the captain, so he's going to go out there and play at 85 percent and then if he can't produce at 100 percent capacity, we're blaming him."
Rangers captain 'was supposed to be the centerpiece of this team'
Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Miller's had his moments, of course, including a pair of overtime winners and a shootout-deciding goal, as well, in the season's first half. But his impact's been muted, and it clearly wears on him, especially with the Rangers sitting last in the conference .
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He and his Rangers teammates sure appeared rejuvenated Saturday, skating to a 6-3 road win in Philadelphia against the Flyers, just 24 hours after the organization released The Letter 2.0, signaling the change in plans moving forward. Perhaps some of the pressure's been lifted now. And maybe Miller returns to his expected form.
Perhaps that's too little, too late to save the Rangers season and avoid a second straight spring missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
What could've been.
"This whole team is set up, from the moment they got him, he was supposed to be the centerpiece of this team and everything is supposed to revolve around him," Stephenson explained. "Yes, you have Igor Shesterkin in goal and you know you're going to get good goaltending. And yes, you have Adam Fox to run your power play. But I think J.T. Miller was the upgrade you wanted. He was supposed to be a legit top-line center — certainly not Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid or [Nathan] MacKinnon , but a guy that could hang with the [Aleksansder] Barkovs of the world.
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"And if you got that J.T. Miller, everything would fall into place. Mika Zibanejad was going to play on his right wing and so you were going to upgrade at first-line center with J.T. in the middle, you would upgrade at first-line right wing with Mika shifting. And everything else would fall into place."
That's not what happened, of course. And now the Rangers are looking to trade Artemi Panarin , an unrestricted free agent at season's end, as part of roster re-set. Vincent Trocheck and others could also be on the way out.
What could've been, indeed.
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