Miller, meanwhile, has been enlivened and has reaped the benefit of playing for the best team in the league, scoring in each of his past two games and tallying five points in his four games with the Lightning.
“I think J.T. has been everything we needed up front,” Cooper told reporters. “He gives you a heavy body there, things we’ve probably lacked. He can keep up in the play https://www.nyislandersfans.com/calvin-de-haan-jersey-c-9.html, he can skate, he’s got a heavy shot. A lot of things that you know you’re going to need if you’re playing in April, May and June, he brings them to the table. We have to get him up to speed on our system, and how we play and we do things. He was a really good add for us.”
Yet for those still wearing the Broadway Blueshirt https://www.nyislandersfans.com/thomas-hickey-jersey-c-8.html, just because the trade deadline has passed does not mean that the rebuild is over. Winger Mats Zuccarello was certainly part of trade discussions, and likely will remain so in the lead up to the draft on June 22. At 30 years old, Zuccarello has one more year left on his deal with a salary cap hit of 4.5 million. He has 10 goals and 43 points in 66 games, which puts him on pace for the fewest goals and points in his past four seasons with the Rangers.
He could have changed the entire tenor of the game against the Jets if he buried either of his terrific chances in the first two periods, but instead his wraparound late in the first period hit the post and his open chance from the right doorstep late in the second was shot directly into the pads of sprawled out goalie Steve Mason. “I know I’m not a good goal scorer, but those should go in,” said Zuccarello, who can have a self deprecating sense of humor https://www.nyislandersfans.com/johnny-boychuk-jersey-c-10.html, but who also knows there is a bit of truth in that statement. “That’s just how it goes right now.”
General manager Jeff Gorton also has a handful of decisions to make with his restricted free agents, a group that all have arbitration rights including Kevin Hayes, Jimmy Vesey, Ryan Spooner, John Gilmour, Skjei and Namestnikov. He also has to decide if Pavel Buchnevich is worthy of top six minutes, and if Tony DeAngelo, Neal Pionk and Gilmour can be consistent contributors on the back end with the influx of defensive prospects he added in trades.
And before all that, Gorton likely has to decide if Alain Vigneault is going to remain the man coaching this team as it transitions from a veteran led contender to a youth driven restart.
That is a process that is still ongoing Dennis Seidenberg Jersey, and Thursday here in the sunshine is just going to be another reminder for these Rangers that it hasn’t stopped.