When I talked about the trade right after it happened, I thought about the light package and how the Rangers were missing a guy who could actually comfortably reach 80+ points (besides Artemi Panarin) as reasons I liked the trade. However, I did think about the possibility of Miller getting hurt or rubbing players the wrong way.
Unfortunately for Drury and the Rangers, the JT Miller 2.0 experience has turned out to be worse than anyone could have imagined.
While he somehow made the United States Olympic team (if rumors are to be believed, his methods of making the team weren’t pretty), every other aspect of Miller’s season was disastrous. After being named captain in the offseason – it’s a really good idea to take the worst locker room in hockey and make the most volatile personality in hockey the leader in that room! – Miller immediately started getting hurt, and getting hurt, and getting hurt, and, well, you know what I mean.
When “healthy,” Miller’s play was sub-par at best. The Rangers would be extremely lucky to get 60 points out of Miller, when even a 50-point season might be out of reach. Miller looks weak on the puck, slow and, worst of all, disinterested. There have been several times this season where he has failed to act in key situations. Don’t forget he’s the captain.
I understood the logic of appointing him captain at the time. He wouldn’t have been my choice, but the idea of ​​him being a strong character who wouldn’t accept the team’s BS from last season was at least defensible. Adding that Mike Sullivan loves the man, it made sense.
All Miller has done to return the favor is give a lot of quotes saying the Rangers are playing unacceptably, and then going out the next night and playing unacceptably. If Miller is even in the lineup, he doesn’t represent what I want to see in a New York Ranger. If he represents what Drury or Sullivan want to see in a New York Ranger, the Rangers will be terrible for a long time.
Perhaps the worst part of all this is that no one wants to trade for this version of Miller. Maybe he can get healthy and be sold with some retention, but there’s a good chance Miller will remain a Ranger for the long haul. Aside from stripping him of his captaincy, there isn’t much the Rangers can do about his presence.
Chris Drury paired the Rangers wagons with JT Miller last season. Now we’re watching a crash in slow motion. The JT Miller disaster won’t magically fix itself. This either ends in an ugly divorce or in continued mediocrity.
#Miller #complete #disaster