{"id":546546,"date":"2026-04-08T01:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T01:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546546\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T01:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T01:50:16","slug":"rangers-star-so-proud-of-j-t-miller-handling-ups-downs-in-1st-year-as-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546546\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers star ‘so proud’ of J.T. Miller handling ups, downs in 1st year as captain"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Rangers News<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"avatar\"\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Back in September, when the New York Rangers named J.T. Miller the 29th captain in franchise history<\/a> ahead of their Centennial campaign in the NHL, no one would\u2019ve predicted just how sideways the 2025-26 season would go \u2014 individually for the player nor collectively for the team.<\/p>\n

To say it wasn\u2019t exactly the fairytale most envisioned is a gross understatement. Miller battled injuries all season, from training camp on, and saw his production drop considerably. A 100-point producer just two seasons ago with the Vancouver Canucks, Miller is fifth on the Rangers<\/a> with 50 points (17 goals, 33 assists) in 64 games.<\/p>\n

What weighs even more on Miller is that the Rangers missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season, and sit last in the Eastern Conference<\/a> despite a strong run down the stretch recently.<\/p>\n

So, if it\u2019s already a difficult task to wear the captain\u2019s C on the Blueshirt for an Original 6 team, you can just imagine the burden Miller\u2019s carried during this disappointing season. <\/p>\n

But one of the other key veteran leaders on the team, the current longest tenured player on the Rangers roster Mika Zibanejad<\/a>, believes Miller\u2019s done a commendable job considering all the negative circumstances this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not been the easiest year to have your first year [as captain] the way the team\u2019s been playing and the results we\u2019ve been having and you look at the standings. A lot of credit to how he\u2019s been trying to deal with it,\u201d Zibanejad said Tuesday<\/a> after practice.<\/p>\n

\"NHL:Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Zibanejad knows a thing or two about the pressures of delivering in New York, and carrying the weight of expectations and disappointment around during a failed season. Just a year ago, Zibanejad, an alternate captain, was largely the face of a stunning freefall by the Rangers, when they became the fourth team in NHL history to win the Presidents\u2019 Trophy one season and fail to qualify for the playoffs the next.<\/p>\n

It was painful to watch Zibanejad most of the 2024-25 season, just seeing how down and unhappy he was with himself and the team\u2019s situation. To his credit, the 32-year-old bounced back this season, and Zibanejad leads the Rangers with 33 goals and 75 points in 77 games, despite the lack of team success.<\/p>\n

Miller had a similar vibe this season, and certainly hopes to rebound in 2026-27 like Zibanejad did this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe demands are high in this city within the organization and a team like this. It\u2019s easy to lead a and be perfect in that sense when things are going for you. But you get tested in times like this. And I feel like he puts a lot of responsibility on himself and he takes a lot \u2014 at times I feel like too much \u2014 and you can tell how much he wants to be the right leader for us, the player, he wants to do everything. It\u2019s not easy,\u201d Zibanejed explained in detail. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I feel like it\u2019s a stepping stone to move forward, and I\u2019m so proud of how he\u2019s dealt with it all. I can\u2019t imagine what it is to be in that situation. Everyone\u2019s got his back and is by his side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Zibanejad, Miller, 33, is under contract for four more seasons<\/a> after this one. The Rangers are retooling, per general manager Chris Drury, but Miller is all in on the Blueshirts. And the Rangers, in turn, are all in on their captain, who despite his struggles won the 2025-26 Rod Gilbert Mr. Ranger Award<\/a> for his work on the ice and charitable endeavors off it.<\/p>\n

Miller said he was \u201chonored\u201d to win the award. But the individual accolade is not what he seeks next season. Zibanejad and anyone else who knows him, is well aware that all Miller wants is to win.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

\t\tJim Cerny is Executive Editor at Forever Blueshirts and Managing Editor at Sportsnaut, with more than 30 years of … More about Jim Cerny<\/a><\/p>\n

Add Forever Blueshirts as a Preferred Source on Google.\"Add<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Rangers News Back in September, when the New York Rangers named J.T. Miller the 29th captain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5111],"tags":[5,3328,35,5190,5193,4,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-546546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-rangers","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkrangers","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-rangers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116366581242951698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}