Peter Laviolette opened up about J.T. Miller's transition with the Rangers.
It’s been a long couple of days for J.T. Miller.
He was traded to the New York Rangers on Friday night and immediately joined the team for their back-to-back against the Boston Bruins and Vegas Golden Knights.
You would think it would be hard for Peter Laviolette to integrate Miller on the fly, but given the veteran forward’s immense talent, the transition was smooth as he scored two goals in his first game with the Rangers on Saturday afternoon.
“Didn't seem like it last night,” Laviolette said about if it was hard to integrate Miller. “He was good. There was a lot of information thrown at him, not a lot of rest, a lot of travel, everything new. He seemed to handle it like a pro. He was good.”
Laviolette eased Miller in while also giving him a lot of responsibility right off the bat.
He recorded a total of 18:48 minutes playing alongside Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin for most of the game and also serving a role on the first power play unit.
Laviolette envisions an increase in usage for Miller in the future including inserting him onto the penalty kill.
“We will, we will,” Laviolette said about whether Miller will play on the penalty kill at some point. “Again, just a lot of information, back-to-back games, things happen pretty quick. Just to get him into Boston yesterday was a lot of work. A lot of people just to get him there. A lot of information went at him, so just trying to get him on board with everything.”
There has been talk about Miller’s character, especially with everything that transpired with him in Vancouver with Elias Pettersson.
Despite all of the concerns, Laviolette is not worried about getting used to Miller’s personality and he feels that his skill sets on top of his veteran presence will be perfect.
“You’re talking about a veteran player who’s a real pro here,” Laviolette said. “Even though I haven't worked with him personally, he’s been around a long time. You watch him play, you understand the game he plays. Easy player for a coach to like. He came in yesterday, was real receptive to the information and played a real good game.