The Rangers went 15-14-3 after acquiring JT Miller, Jackson Dorington and later Eric Branstrom from the Canucks on January 31st.
Miller was like an adrenaline shot at something that was almost dead at first, but it faded quickly and wasn’t enough to propel the Rangers into the playoffs.
After all, no one could have done it alone.
In 32 games with the Rangers this season, Miller finished with 13 goals with 35 points and 22 assists. This is the same amount that I posted in my first 40 games with the Canucks at the beginning of the season.
“I really want to play this time of year, especially as I get older,” Miller said after Thursday’s Rangers season finale. “But this is where we are. We can’t change it. It can’t smoke, but at the same time, I think it’s been a long time, on a personal level. I’m going to enjoy family time.
The situation with Miller in Vancouver has become clearly unacceptable to all involved parties. The rumours rift between Miller and Elias Petterson appeared to be a major distraction, and was further confirmed on Friday.
“Did you get uncomfortable? Yeah,” Vancouver head coach Rick Totchet told reporters on the day the Canucks broke up.
Petterson said:
No one benefited from the arrival of Miller than Mika Zibanejad. Peter LaViolet immediately hooked Zibanejad into the mirror, which proved to be one of the better moves the Rangers head coach has made all season.
Throughout 50 games on January 31, Zibanejad scored 29 points with a total of nine goals and 20 assists.
In the final 32 contests, Zibanejad scored 11 goals and announced 22 assists with 33 points, whilst recording ice time at 259:15 next to Miller. He was the third-highest producer on the team in that span, following only Miller (35) and Artemipanarin (37).
“I don’t know, we missed the playoffs so clearly nothing dramatic happened,” Miller said of his perception of the team before and after he arrived. “This feels like it’s perfect for me. I was so excited to be back here and had so much fun with these guys while I was here. We came out and lost some games, but we’ll re-rack it in the summer.”
Rangers are scheduled to hold a farewell day on Monday.
Chytil told reporters in Vancouver on Friday that he had cleared concussion protocols.
The former ranger missed the final 16 games of the season.
