The New York Rangers’ current struggles are no secret to anyone. The team has gone through one of its toughest seasons in recent history. That situation has led to endless scrutiny about where things have gone wrong.
But there could be a solution to the issue, albeit a not-too-pleasant one.
In his 32 Thoughts blog, insider Elliotte Friedman pointed towards the Rangers’ coach Mike Sullivan and captain J.T. Miller getting on the same page. Both will be in Milano-Cortina as part of Team USA at the Olympics, proving them with a chance to figure things out.
Sullivan is the bench boss for the American squad, while Miller is one of the team’s leaders. That situation prompted Friedman to speculate that both Miller and Sullivan could spend some time going over the Rangers’ most pressing issues.
“Sullivan clearly is just as frustrated, feeling his message is not getting through. He’s the coach and Miller is the captain. They have to work with each other to make it better.”
Friedman’s remarks come on the heels of the controversial post-game comments by Miller. In particular, Miller essentially offered no explanation and no path forward for the Blueshirts to climb out of their rut.
With Miller and Sullivan seemingly at a loss for words, Friedman warned that a major change may be the only way out.
“Or the Rangers are going to have to change something there, too.”
The path forward might be choosing one of Sullivan or Miller. Although given GM Chris Drury’s stance, the choice is evident.
Rangers Will Likely Choose Sullivan over Miller
The Letter 2.0, in addition to comments by Drury and Rangers owner James Dolan point towards the organization believing the problem lies with the players, not the management group or the coaching staff.
That’s no bueno for guys like J.T. Miller. While the Rangers would prefer not to trade Miller, if push comes to shove, it seems the club would side with Drury and Sullivan.
In other words, the onus will fall on Miller to get Sullivan’s message across and rally the troops. If he can’t do that, a leadership change may be the only way out. What that leadership change entails is another story.
Could New York Strip Miller of Captaincy?
It’s not unheard of that a team strips a player of the captaincy and hands it to another. The most recent example was the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2024. During that offseason, the Maple Leafs removed John Tavares as team captain and handed the “C” over to Auston Matthews.
However, Tavares had been captain for several seasons, and Matthews was the logical successor. The club couldn’t wait any longer, especially with Tavares heading into a contract year.
That’s not the case with the Rangers at the moment. The club acquired Miller from the Vancouver Canucks last year and just recently bestowed the captaincy on him this season. Moreover, there is no clear successor for the captaincy in New York.
Rangers fans could argue that the most logical candidate would be Adam Fox. But a case could be there for either Mik Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck, trade rumors notwithstanding.
The situation is not an easy one. It seems that firing Sullivan after one season is the last thing on the organization’s mind. So, it might come down to trading Miller, most likely in the offseason, and starting from scratch with the team’s leadership group.
It will be interesting to see what happens following the Olympics. If the Rangers rebound and finish out the stretch strong, the club could sidestep its worst fears.
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