Needless to say, it’s been a busy 24 hours for J.T. Miller.
On Friday afternoon, about an hour before he was set to take the ice with the Vancouver Canucks for their game against the Dallas Stars, the centreman was dealt, along with two defencemen, to the New York Rangers in exchange for Filip Chytil, a prospect, and a conditional first-rounder.
It was the end of a long, drawn-out saga for Miller, who had been at the centre of trade rumours both before and after he signed his seven-year, $56 million contract in 2022. Those rumours reached a fever-pitch this season, when a rumoured off-ice rift between himself and Elias Pettersson began to have an impact on the team on-ice.
So, the 32-year-old gets a fresh start with the Rangers — the team that drafted him 15th overall back in 2011 — but is making it clear he feels no ill will towards the team for which he played nearly six years.
“I have no disrespect to the Vancouver Canucks organization. They’ve given me absolutely everything,” Miller said in an intermission interview with ESPN on Saturday, donning his new Rangers threads. “The support I’ve had over this whole year, it’s been a long year. An opportunity came up where I could become a Ranger again and obviously it’s a special thing to my family and I.”
In his first game back with the Rangers — 2,533 days after his last — Miller wasted no time in making an impact. He collected a pass in the slot from linemate Artemi Panarin and one-timed a rising shot past Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman, tying the game at 1-1 midway into the period.
Wearing No. 8 and starting the game on the team’s top line, Miller was also with Rangers winger Mika Zibanejad.
“He’s a power forward that can play the game hard,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said. “He can score goals and make plays. He’s got an edge to his game and plays different positions, so it’s a big piece.”
He spent parts of six seasons in New York before being dealt to Tampa Bay along with defenceman Ryan McDonagh on Feb. 26, 2018.
He wore No. 9 in Vancouver, but that was retired by the Rangers in February 2009 for former player Andy Bathgate, a star during the Original Six era.
Miller was brought in to help bolster a Rangers’ lineup that’s struggled after winning the Presidents’ Trophy a year ago and reaching the Eastern Conference final.
He had nine goals and 26 assists in 40 games with Vancouver this season.
— With files from the Associated Press
