JT Miller Placed On Injured Reserve By New York Rangers

JT Miller is officially going back on injured reserve after suffering yet another upper-body injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets last night. The captain hasn’t had a great season by his standards and has clearly been battling through injuries all season. With the season ending next month, Miller could be done for the year.

Last night in the overtime loss to Columbus, Miller was shoved to the ground as he was trying to set up the offense in front of the net. This injury, believe it or not, is actually a huge break for him and could put an end to his horrendous season, protecting him from taking more heat. Miller has been a disaster on the ice, and his post-game press conferences have made things even worse.

Miller Heads To IR

It is a new injury Miller sustained in Monday’s 5-4 OT loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, not something he had been dealing with earlier in the season, per Emily Kaplan of ESPN. By being placed on IR, Miller must miss at least seven days, and will probably miss more than the minimum amount. The Rangers have three games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, and Philadelphia Flyers in that stretch.

In 51 games for the Rangers this season, Miller has scored 14 goals and has 38 points. He just looked slow and checked out when he was on the ice, and it was a terrible look for a guy in his first season as the captain. Ever since joining the Rangers after being dealt by the Canucks, the Miller trade looks worse every day for Chris Drury and the rest of the front office. 

Rangers Need To Lose

Miller being placed on IR helps the tank, and the Rangers need to lose as many games as possible down the stretch. They haven’t had success in past years developing prospects, but if they can land a top-four pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, they’ll get a young talent who can contribute right away. Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff, and Tynan Lawrence are the consensus top four, and New York will try to land one of them.

Outside of their own selection, the Rangers will have a later pick thanks to the trade they made last year with the Carolina Hurricanes for K’Andre Miller. It projects to be in the mid to late 20’s, but that will be another pick that Drury has to hit on if he wants to turn this roster around quickly.

If they do trade Vincent Trocheck and someone else like Braden Schneider, they should, in theory, acquire even more draft capital. Gabe Perrault looks like he’s a star in the making, and the Rangers will need many more like him to turn this disaster of a team around in a timely fashion.

Big Week Upcoming

With the Trade Deadline on Friday, the New York Rangers are expected to be one of the more active teams. They are looking to sell many key pieces. Trocheck is the biggest name on the trade market. He is expected to bring in a return headlined by young prospects and future draft picks. 

Outside of Trocheck, the Rangers are expected to listen to offers on many of their other players, outside of Igor Shesterkin. They need to sell high on whatever assets they can, because it’s the only way to speed up the rebuild. Michael McCarron being traded to the Wild for a second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft will only help boost their own players’ value.