Veteran Forward Has Least Efficient Contract on NY Rangers

The New York Rangers have a troublesome contract to work around with one of their veteran forwards.

Mar 31, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers center J.T. Miller (8) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal in the first period against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The New York Rangers have a lot of work to do with their roster this offseason if they want to compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

There are several areas of weakness on the roster. How did the Rangers get to this point? A big part of the reason is their inability to develop young talent recently, with a lot of whiffs in terms of first-round draft picks.

Also, some of the moves that team president and general manager Chris Drury has made to upgrade the roster have backfired. One such move that looks like it will end up costing the team in the long run is the acquisition of J.T. Miller.

In the midst of a seven-year, $56 million contract, he is under contract through 2030. With four years remaining on the deal, the veteran center has the least valuable contract on the team, despite having a Net Rating of +4.7 this past season, as shared by Harman Dayal of The Athletic (subscription required).

J.T. Miller has least valuable contract on Rangers

Apr 5, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers center J.T. Miller (8) skates against the Washington Capitals during the second period at Madison Square Garden. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

On Jan. 31, 2025, New York acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks along with Erik Brännström and Jackson Dorrington in exchange for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and a 2025 first-round draft pick.

It was his second stint with the Rangers, who originally selected him with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft. Coming off three straight seasons of recording 82+ points, Drury thought he would be an offensive game-changer and No. 1 center.

While certainly not a net negative on the ice, as his Net Rating proves, Miller wasn’t close to living up to expectations. He recorded 53 points, scoring 17 goals with 36 assists, in 68 games with an eye-popping plus/minus of -30.

Plus/minus isn’t a tell-all statistic, but it paints a pretty good picture of New York’s No. 1 line not being able to contend with opposing No. 1 lines. Miller wasn’t able to drive production as much as the team had hoped, with a -24 goal differential when on the ice in even-strength situations, per Dayal.

J.T. Miller not living up to expectations

Apr 4, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers center J.T. Miller (8) warms up before the first period against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Certainly not a terrible amount of production, but Miller lands on this list because he is struggling to live up to the expectations of someone earning $8 million annually. Dayal’s model believes he performed closer to the level of someone earning $6 million.

His drop in performance could have certainly stemmed from the level of talent around him, but the Rangers acquired him with the idea that he would be the person driving the offensive production.

That didn’t occur during the 2025-26 season. Now that he is 33 and has four years left on his contract, it could certainly become a detriment moving forward for the front office to operate around.