After nearly seven years away from the New York Rangers, getting honoured with the ‘C’ came as a surprise for J.T. Miller.
The Rangers named Miller the 29th captain in franchise history on Tuesday, closing the loop on a full-circle journey back to the team that drafted him 15th overall in 2011.
“It’s been a special couple days for my family for sure,” Miller said. “It was ingrained in me at a young age what it means to be a captain around here and I’m just super thankful and lucky to represent the group like that.”
Miller spent the better part of the first six years of his NHL career in the Big Apple before being dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018, then to the Vancouver Canucks in 2019, where he would spend most of six seasons.
Miller said he would have never expected to receive the ‘C.’
“Absolutely not,” he told Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “Learned a lot along the way, been pretty well documented I think, and I’m thankful for all of those tough times now.”
In the Rangers’ statement on Tuesday, general manager Chris Drury highlighted Miller’s presence, saying that he “immediately became a leader for our group and exemplifies how we want to conduct ourselves both on and off the ice.”
To that end, Miller credits his early days with the Rangers, where he played under former captains Ryan McDonagh and Ryan Callahan.
“I’ve had a lot of great captains. I think the ones that stick out are the ones I had here first, (McDonagh) and (Callahan), still very close with those guys,” Miller said. “Just trying to be a sponge as a young guy around those guys and learn a lot about the way they play. Just absolute warriors of the game.”
Miller succeeds Jacob Trouba as team captain after the defenceman was dealt to Anaheim in December. New York finished out the season without a captain.
Like Trouba, Miller takes pride in the intensity he can bring to the ice.
“I wanna be me. I’ve been given a lot of good advice from (head coach) Mike (Sullivan) and Chris (Drury) in the last little bit here about, ‘We want you to be yourself,’ and for me, that means a lot,” Miller said.
Added alternate captain Vincent Trochek: “He brings a level of intensity to the game that brings people into the fight a little bit. So having him back there to kind of lead our group is going to be good.”
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