COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just like the Rangers couldn’t ever get the most out of Filip Chytil due to his persistent concussion-related issues, and didn’t get the real Patrick Kane as a 2023 trade deadline rental because of a lingering hip injury, they have not gotten all of J.T. Miller in his first season as captain.
A series of injuries has prevented the 33-year-old from reaching 100-percent capacity even once throughout this season.
Miller skated in Thursday’s 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jackets in just his fourth game back from a five-game absence.
It may have been only his second stint on injured reserve with an upper-body injury this season, but the previous one — a different injury than the most recent — lingered from November until he missed seven games from the end of December into early January.
The stretches of time on the sidelines have left Miller a step behind for most of the season.
Miller hasn’t scored a goal since Jan. 26 — an 11-game stretch.
Frustrations with the season, the state of the team and himself have come through in his body language both on the ice and off it during postgame interviews.
“I think he’s trying to build his game,” coach Mike Sullivan said of Miller before the Rangers fell to 28-33-8 on the season. “I think he gets better as he starts to build timing and his conditioning improves, and things of that nature. But, you know, J.T. has missed a fair amount of hockey this year with some of the injuries that he’s had to endure.”
Miller was on the ice for two goals against Thursday night, including one from Adam Fantilli on the penalty kill.
Since Noah Laba was sidelined with a lower-body injury, Miller moved to center between Conor Sheary and Tye Kartye.
They were deployed more like a third line, however, logging just under a minute and a half more of 5-on-5 ice time than the Rangers’ fourth unit, per Natural Stat Trick.
The 6-3 loss to the Devils on Wednesday was an even tougher night for Miller and his linemates, but he skated on the wing of Vincent Trocheck and Will Cuylle in that game.
Among the Rangers lines that logged at least three minutes of 5-on-5 ice time on Wednesday, the trio and their 1.38 expected goals for percentage ranked the lowest on the team, per Natural Stat Trick.
In 17:34 of ice time in the Rangers’ second-to-last game against the Devils, Miller was held to zero shots on goal for the ninth time this season.
He was held to zero points Thursday for the 26th time this season.
Miller, who has 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists) in 55 games, is on track to finish with his lowest point production across a full season with at least 60 games since 2018-19.
The Rangers have not come close to getting Miller’s best in 2025-26. Sullivan agreed with the notion, pointing to the start-and-stop nature of the veteran forward’s season.
“I think there’s another level to his game that we know is there,” Sullivan said. “That, obviously, we’re trying to help him capture. I feel like when he was building traction and traction and getting close every time, we felt like, ‘OK, his game is where we want it to be,’ is when he got hurt, and that’s been unfortunate for his sake.”
With the Rangers well out of the playoffs, it’s fair to wonder if Miller should take the extra time to heal even more.
Anyone who knows Miller, however, knows that is not his way.
If Miller is healthy enough to play, it is his preference to.
This is his team, and Miller feels an obligation to be in the fight with his teammates.
Sullivan is still coaching to win games and build a foundation in the Rangers locker room.
Miller is considered to be a key part of it all, though the same does not apply for everyone in the Rangers lineup.
Asked what is keeping a veteran player like Conor Sheary in the lineup over a young player in Hartford who the Rangers may want to evaluate, Sullivan made his preference clear.
Brett Berard got a run of 11 games earlier this season and appeared in just a couple of games in January, but he has missed the last three Wolf Pack games with an upper-body injury.
Brendan Brisson, who played in three straight games out of the Olympic break, is another option among those in Hartford with NHL experience.
“Well, we’ve had lots of looks, all these guys,” Sullivan said. “So it’s not like we haven’t had looks. I think what Conor brings is there’s a lot of detail around his game with how he plays, whether it’s without the puck, positionally, where he’s at. He has a good stick. His puck-pursuit game, and how he hunts pucks and forces turnovers. I think he’s played well when he was playing with Labs and Tye. He scores last night with J.T. He can help on the penalty kill.
“So there’s a lot of detail around his game, and that’s what I think has been his competitive advantage.”
