The New York Rangers may be four points out of a playoff spot with 30 games to go, but if anything was evident before and now after their back-to-back weekend games, it’s that they are closer to a Stanley Cup with J.T. Miller than they were without him.
Miller potted two goals in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins and added a pair of assists in the 4-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
He registered eight shots, eight hits and netted a plus-1 rating.
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But it’s not just about his presence on the scoresheet as to why general manager Chris Drury pursued him like a vulture, it’s the polarizing physical presence he brings to the Rangers’ fabric and the fiery mentality he wields both on-and-off the ice as a leader.
Filip Chytil, the primary piece that was exchanged for Miller on Friday, scored in his Vancouver Canucks debut. Considering that minute sample size and the fact that Kaapo Kakko, who was traded in December in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen, has 15 points in 20 games for the Seattle Kraken, some might say that the Rangers let go of the wrong assets with unrealized potential.
The truth is that if Chytil, who is prone to injury, wasn’t already showing progress as a No. 1 center, he never was going to be within the Rangers organization. It wasn’t doing him nor the Rangers any good having a player with his offensive acumen anchored on the third line.
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Regardless of both of those players having been former first-round draft picks, the narrative has changed. They were both drafted by a different front office when the goal was to get younger and gain speed and skill.
That manifesto — in which The Letter, a memo sent out to season ticket holders in February 2018 informing that the core was being gutted to rebuild a new identity — is ancient history following two visits to the Eastern Conference Final in the last three seasons.
The Rangers were defeated by the Florida Panthers in six games last spring because they lacked what the Rangers organization labels as “meat and potatoes.” As effective as players such as Chytil and Kakko can be offensively given the right circumstances, they do not help the Rangers outmuscle the biggest and baddest in a best of seven.
J.T. Miller, however, does.
His addition back into the organization that drafted him 14 years ago makes significant progress towards molding Drury’s end vision, which meshes the premiere skill that his predecessors chased and the bulldog style that he covets.
New York must focus on modeling themselves after the fabric of recent Cup winners such as the Panthers while Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox are in the prime of their careers.
The Rangers don’t have the best reputation for developing their prospects, but many of the young players that have flopped were homogenous assets that clogged up the organizational pipeline.
There’s no guarantee a team will gain another world-class goaltender and bonafide No. 1 defenseman in the case of another rebuild, so adding proven personnel that offer fresh intangibles are what will move the needle.
Besides, many seem to forget Miller was a first-round prospect developed by the Rangers in the first place.
More J.T. Miller News:
Canucks’ Rick Tocchet Seemingly Takes Shot at JT Miller Amid Trade Rumors
Canucks’ JT Miller Responds to Trade Rumors, ‘Whatever Happens, Happens’
