Rangers ‘set up’ to land playoff spot after J.T. Miller trade but there’s catch, 1994 Stanley Cup GM believes
Neil Smith believes that J.T. Miller was a “great acquisition” for the New York Rangers and will help propel them into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But the 1994 Stanley Cup-winning general manager for the Rangers doesn’t see his former team making a long postseason run this spring.
Speaking on the RINK RAP podcast, Smith told Forever Blueshirts that the Rangers are undoubtedly a “better team” after trading for Miller a couple weeks ago, but they’re not quite a serious Stanley Cup contender even with the rugged and talented center in the lineup.
“In my opinion, they are going to take the eighth spot (in the Eastern Conference). If I have to predict, I think the Rangers do make the playoffs in the eighth spot,” Smith said. “But I don’t see them as a team that’s going to be able to accomplish a heckuva lot in the playoffs this year. I think their accomplishment is going to be making the playoffs, but I do think they will. I think they’re set up to make it.”
When pushed why he thought the Rangers were good enough to get in but not good enough to make a run, especially if goalie Igor Shesterkin finds his A game down the stretch, Smith remained firm.
“I don’t see it,” Smith replied. “Yeah Shesterkin can win a round by himself, he’s that good. … When he’s on his game, and we’ve all seen it, he’s incredible. …But I don’t see them [having sustained success] once it gets into the grind of those better teams in the East.”
Part of Smith’s reasoning is that, even with Miller, the Rangers are too much of a fancy finesse team. To that end, he believes current Rangers GM Chris Drury needs to “tweak what they are” even more before the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline.
“I think the J.T. Miller [trade] starts that. But I think they go too much east-west and not enough north-south, meaning they do not attack the net as much as they try to get into the zone and play more side to side,” Smith explained. “Quite honestly, I don’t think [Artemi] Panarin’s playoff performances have been great compared to his regular season and that’s because playoffs aren’t his kind of game. … I don’t know if you can live with [Mika] Zibanejad playing the way he plays and Panarin playing the way he plays, and Adam Fox being a smaller really talented offensive defenseman — but he’s not big, not Brian Leetch size.
“I think to get through the playoffs, you’re going to have to more [Vincent] Trochecks and more J.T. Millers. And quite honestly, I don’t think it’d be bad to have a [Jacob] Trouba in there. … The one thing Trouba did for that team was you never knew when he was going to lay somebody out.”
Related: Ryan Lindgren decision, Rangers options on defense ahead of NHL Trade Deadline
Neil Smith believes Rangers will have less pressure on them this season if they make playoffs
The Rangers are 11th in the Eastern Conference and three points out of the second wild card, despite a miserable 4-15-0 stretch in November and December. They’ve made up a lot of ground but still have several teams to pass in the final 27 games to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs a fourth consecutive season.
Smith believes the Ottawa Senators are good enough and have a favorable-enough schedule to maintain their hold on the top wild card in the East. The Detroit Red Wings currently are the second wild card, with the Rangers, Islanders, Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets in the mix.
Despite a bunch of ‘self-inflicted wounds” and “friendly fire” contributing to their on- and off-ice issues this season, the Rangers should make the playoffs ahead of those other teams, more so now that Miller was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks.
“One of the things the Rangers will have going for them for the first time in a number of years is there’s not going to be much downside to their playoffs because they’re not expected to do anything,” Smith explained. “Right now, everybody is only worried about will they make the playoffs. If they get in, there’ll be fan fare for having just gotten in and then there’ll be no downside. … They won’t have the pressure on them that they normally have.”
This is true. Last season, they won the Presidents’ Trophy and were heavy favorites to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 30 years, since Smith was running the show back in 1994. In 2022-23, they were expected to make a run after reaching the conference Final the prior spring.
And the pressure was on to begin this season after falling two wins shy of a Stanley Cup Final appearance. But a disastrous start this season tempered expectations big time. The trade for Miller may have raised expectations but not to crazy levels.
Now, Smith is like the rest of us. Waiting to see if Drury has another major move up his sleeve ahead of the deadline.
“His team is in a better spot now than it was. He did a good job.”
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