Rangers captain J.T. Miller day to day with lower-body injury
It appears New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller avoided serious injury, after he was forced to depart practice early on Monday. Rangers coach Mike Sullivan confirmed Monday night that Miller is day to day with a lower-body injury.
In fact, there are reports that Miller might even be able to practice Tuesday.
Miller lunged to push a loose puck past a defender toward the left point during competitive drills, when he sustained a non-contact injury. As play continued around him, Miller remained on all fours. He pushed himself up on his left leg, then gingerly took careful skating strides toward the bench. He glided the last several feet before departing back into the locker room area.
Sullivan wasn’t at the MSG Training Center to witness the injury first-hand. Instead, the coach was with the game group at UBS Arena, preparing for a preseason contest that night against the New York Islanders — a game Miller wasn’t scheduled to dress for.
“I just found out about it myself when I got off the ice,” Sullivan said. “All I can tell you is that he’s being evaluated right now.”
The Rangers named Miller the 29th captain in franchise history on Sept. 16. Prior to 2024-25, Miller missed no more than two games in each of the previous three seasons. The durable center missed 10 games last season with the Vancouver Canucks due to a leave of absence from the team in November, which was said to be for “personal reasons” amid a feud with teammate Elias Pettersson.
The 32-year-old had 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games after he was traded to the Rangers on Jan. 31. Miller is entering the third season of the seven-year, $56 million contract he signed with the Canucks in 2022.
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Rangers injury updates, including Braden Schneider preseason debut
Artemi Panarin, New York’s leading scorer each of the past five seasons, has missed time with a lower-body injury and has yet to play in a preseason game.
Panarin returned to practice Friday and reunited with linemates Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere. There’s a chance Panarin will make his preseason debut Thursday, when the Rangers host the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden. After that, the Rangers play one more preseason game, Saturday afternoon in Boston against the Bruins.
Fourth-line center Sam Carrick sat out the game against the Islanders and is day to day with a lower-body injury. The Rangers said the move was a precaution.
Defenseman Braden Schneider made his first preseason appearance Monday. The 24-year-old didn’t participate in scrimmages or preseason games to begin training camp as a precaution after shoulder surgery in April.
Schneider partnered with Urho Vaakanainen and assisted on Noah Laba’s overtime goal in a 3-2 win against the Islanders. That could be a preview of what the Rangers’ third pair looks like opening night (Oct. 7) against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“If we were to rank our defenseman top to bottom, we believe that ‘Schneids’ is amongst the top four. But that doesn’t mean he has to play in the top four,” Sullivan explained Monday.
The coach added that Schneider could have added responsibility by playing more on special teams this season. Schneider averaged a career-high 17:52 TOI last season, sometimes shifting to his off (left) side in the top four. However, he’s spent the vast majority of his four seasons in the NHL on the right side of New York’s third pair.
Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov appear set as the top pair this season. Carson Soucy and Will Borgen, partners previously with the Seattle Kraken, could very well be the second pair.
The second and third pairs aren’t etched in stone because rookie Scott Morrow could force his way into the lineup. The 22-year-old defenseman played his fourth straight preseason game Monday, and is a third-pair candidate with high upside offensively. He was plus-2, though held off the score sheet Monday against the Islanders.
