There’s one player who’s beginning to gain momentum for the New York Rangers' captaincy.
Since the Rangers traded Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks in December, the team has been without a captain, but that could change at the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
Longtime Rangers reporter and columnist Larry Brooks strongly believes that the Rangers brass should choose J.T. Miller to be the team’s next captain.
“The captain’s sweater is not just another piece of laundry,” Brooks wrote. “It represents the organization’s ethos. The Rangers acquired J.T. Miller to change the team culture. The 32-year-old is hard-edged and can be abrasive. That is the identity the Blueshirts should adopt.”
The Rangers acquired Miller from the Vancouver Canucks this past season, partly due to his immense talent and also because of the energy he brings on a daily basis.
Miller is known for his competitive and fiery nature, and the goal of bringing him in was to help start a culture shift within the organization that was desperately needed.
Rangers Rank 10th In The Hockey News’ Exclusive Summer Splash SeriesThe Hockey News’ exclusive summer splash series evaluating the off-seasons of every NHL team is into the final stretch. To put these rankings together, we’ve focused the spotlight on every franchise’s off-season additions, departures, hirings and firings. And we’ve labelled each team as belonging to one of three categories – teams that have improved, teams that essentially stayed the same, and teams that have regressed.
Making him the captain would demonstrate that the Rangers are fully committed to a change in their overall identity.
It’s unclear when or even if the Rangers plan on naming a captain, but Miller is certainly a candidate to watch out for.
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