The Vancouver Canucks haven’t been immune to scrutiny this season, but at least their highest-paid forward is picking things up offensively.
Meanwhile, the star centre they traded away has really struggled to produce.
It’s been a tumultuous start for J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers so far in 2025-26. Miller has had to answer questions about the team’s historically bad start on home ice, and they’ve muddled their way to a pedestrian 10-8-2 start, good for 10th overall in the Eastern Conference.
The Rangers’ leaky defence has been propped by the goaltending tandem of Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick, who’ve combined to give New York the second-best save percentage in the NHL at 5-on-5.
However, New York’s main issue has been its inability to score.
They currently rank 28th league-wide in terms of goals scored. The Rangers’ power play also sits at a pedestrian 18 per cent, good for 20th overall in the NHL.
Those were both areas where Miller was supposed to help, but it hasn’t worked out that way so far.
The Rangers captain currently has five goals and nine points in 20 games this season. He’s on pace for just 37 points.
Miller and the Rangers are 1-7-1 on home ice this season. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
His surprisingly low offensive output means that currently, nine Canucks players (or half of their active roster) have more points than Miller so far this season.
Here are the Canucks scoring leaders who have more points than the Rangers’ captain:
1. Quinn Hughes: 16 GP, 1 G, 19 A, 20 PTS
2. Elias Pettersson: 21 GP, 6 G, 13 A, 19 PTS
3. Kiefer Sherwood: 21 GP, 12 G, 3 A, 15 PTS
4. Brock Boeser: 19 GP, 8 G, 6 A, 14 PTS
5. Conor Garland: 17 GP, 5 G, 8 A, 13 PTS
6. Filip Hronek: 21 GP, 1 G, 11 A, 12 PTS
7. Evander Kane: 21 GP, 3 G, 8 A, 11 PTS
8. Jake DeBrusk: 21 GP, 8 G, 2 A, 10 PTS
9. Drew O’Connor: 21 GP, 6 G, 4 A, 10 PTS
Not included in the list above is Max Sasson, who has as many goals (four) as Miller this season.
The former Canucks star has been a bit unlucky this season, shooting just 8.5 per cent compared to a career average of 14.9 per cent.
However, at the age of 32, it appears as though his days as an elite, number one NHL centre may be fading away.
That’s not good news for a Rangers team that gave up the 11th overall pick in last year’s draft, Filip Chytil, and Victor Mancini in exchange for Miller last season.
And as much as there was some concern over Pettersson’s offensive output earlier in the campaign, the fact that he has more than double Miller’s point totals should make Canucks fans feel a little better about the decision to keep the Swedish centre over the Rangers’ captain.