Danny Wild-Imagn ImagesWhen J.T. Miller was named the New York Rangers' captain before the start of the 2025-26 season, he conveyed one simple message.
"I wanna be me,” Miller said in his first interview with the media since being named captain.
Despite the letter change on the front of his sweater, Miller made clear that his personality wouldn’t change, nor would his game.
On the ice, it was a difficult season for Miller, who dealt with a number of injuries, causing him to miss 14 games and play much of the year not 100% healthy.
Miller’s 53 points were his lowest point total since the shortened 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 33-year-old forward was also forced to grow into this captain role the hard way, with the Rangers struggling and finishing the year at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
It wasn’t always easy. As the captain, Miller had to be the messenger after the majority of the team’s 49 losses, even when there simply wasn’t much to say.
Through these difficult times, Miller believes he learned how to be a stronger leader.
“That’s when you find the most out about yourself,” Miller said during his exit interview. “It’s really easy to be a good teammate, give good effort, be happy, do all the right things when everything is going well. It’s when things aren’t going your way that test your character. This year I think we learned a lot about ourselves as a group. There were some hard moments, no question.
“That’s one thing I’m trying to get better at every single day: demeanor. I don’t want to get rid of my emotions. When I use it well, it makes me who I am. I just think working on how to use it every single day, it’s never going to be perfect with me, and quite frankly I don’t want it to be because I embrace that. I think channeling it and using it the right way, especially when times are hard.”
On Jan. 16, Chris Drury issued a letter to fans outlining the Rangers’ plan to “retool” the roster, essentially indicating Drury’s intentions to focus on the future as opposed to being competitive for the remainder of the season.
Through these early stages of the retool, Miller took on the responsibility of stepping into a mentor role for the young players coming onto the roster, while also having to adopt a calmer approach with the media, given the Rangers’ obvious reality that they wouldn’t make the playoffs.
While acknowledging some of the hardships that came with the 2025-26 season, Miller expressed his gratitude for being able to grow because of it moving into the future.
“I wasn’t going to change who I was. I was going to be myself; I said that at the start of the season,” Miller said. “There were definitely moments that were challenging for me. I put a lot of weight on my shoulders, and I think at moments it might have been a little bit too taxing for me. I’ve learned a lot about it so far.
“You don’t want to have seasons like this, you want to play in the playoffs, but I’m glad I can take a lot away from this. It was a lot, it was heavy for me this year. It was my first time doing it. I’m proud of myself.”