Miller confident he can lead Rangers' revival in second season as captain

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- J.T. Miller feels more prepared for the road ahead this season because of how "challenging" last season was for him and the New York Rangers.

"I'm thankful for last season," Miller told NHL.com. "I learned a ton from it." 

Last season went south in a hurry for them. 

Miller, the first-year captain, was injured in training camp, and at multiple points in the season, too, enough to miss 14 games and feel less than 100 percent in dozens more. 

"I'm not an excuses guy, and I'm not making an excuse when I say this, it really was one of those years where I was just dealing with stuff the whole time and that's very difficult, especially with the situation with our team," Miller said.

The Rangers lost their first seven home games, getting shut out in five. They won three of 19 games coming out of the Christmas break, a stretch that included the public announcement that they were basically punting on the season and would begin retooling the roster. They traded Artemi Panarin. They finished last in the Eastern Conference.

"I'm already an emotional person and then it seemed like nothing was going right," Miller said.

But there's perspective to be gained through it all, Miller said.

"If it went well all the time I think you'd get lost in fairytale land," he said. "The exciting thing is there was a lot that went wrong last year individually, as a team, however you want to look at it. But this year it's going to be that much better when hopefully we can get the results that we're looking for. That's what I learned, how to handle hard situations. I think I've done that before, but last year was a whole other animal. I'm trying to take that in. I feel fresh and excited for this year."

He's talking about on and off the ice.

On the ice, Miller is back at center, his natural position, because of the departure of Vincent Trocheck, who was traded to the Utah Mammoth in the offseason. He's centering Pavel Dorofeyev, the Rangers' most important and expensive offseason addition. Oliver Bjorkstrand is also on the line that has been together since Day 1 of training camp.

"He likes the guys that he's playing with right now," Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. "He likes the changes that we made to the group to try to become more competitive. I think J.T. is in a good place. … He's played a lot of center over his career. He's very comfortable in that position, and I think he likes being there."

Off the ice, Miller feels the fun is back in the dressing room. He said there is a "freshness" that has led to a "great vibe" with seven new players, including 18-year-old rookie defenseman Alberts Smits, the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft who made the team.

"It's been talked about so much that we don't really need to talk about it more, but I like to have fun and I want to have an environment where we can come in and bust (on each other) and have a lot of fun, but expect a lot out of each other," Miller said. "When the doors close, we kill somebody for each other and have a beer after the game and talk about it. That's the environment we can have fun in. That's it. I love to have a good time." 

As badly as Miller wanted to create that environment as Rangers captain last season, it was basically impossible with how the season started and how it went from there.

But he doesn't sound like a leader who lost his way last season. Miller believes he's a leader who knows what a winning environment is supposed to look and feel like. That includes embracing internal pressure and using it as a source of positivity.

New York will go for its first win of the season in its home opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, MSG), two nights after a 3-0 loss at the Boston Bruins.

"When I play to my ability I feel like we should get the results," Miller said. "Last year, it felt like it didn't matter because we didn't get the results. If I played really well and we'd lose by one, I'd feel like if I could just produce a little more, we'd win that damn game. So, you don't get anything out of the good games, and then the bad games you certainly don't get anything out of. What I learned was maybe not to pile so much on myself, maybe don't try to tackle a thousand things, maybe just keep plugging along, which is cliché, but 900 games into my career I'm still talking about doing it because it's very hard to do. It's very hard to do."

Miller has another chance to try to do it this season. He is already off to a better start just by being healthy entering this season. 

Motivation and perspective are guiding his excitement too.

"Listen, there's times I think when you can think everything is going wrong, but a lot has gone right for me to be in the position I'm in," Miller said. "I feel super lucky. Like, I get to be the captain of the (expletive) New York Rangers, pardon my language. I'm just saying, I feel like the luckiest guy in the world, and I don't want to take this for granted. I think that's why I care so much and put a lot on my shoulders. 

"We play another sport where we get to do it again and that's an exciting thing."