Former Coraopolis resident has had an eventful year, but now he's one series away from a chance at the Stanley Cup
In a word, J.T. Miller’s sixth season in the NHL has been a whirlwind. It’s a season that started inconspicuously enough, with the 25-year-old Miller beginning the year with the New York Rangers organization, much like he had in previous seasons.
But then things took a turn. As the Rangers floundered in the standings, Miller was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 26. Since, the Lightning finished as the top seed in the Eastern Conference and made quick work of their first two playoff opponents, beating both the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins in five games. The Lightning will now face off against the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Final starting Friday at 8 p.m.
Through it all, Miller has had to adjust to a new team and new city on the fly. To boot, his wife, Natalie, gave birth to their first child in April, in between the Devils and Bruins series. In just a few months, Miller’s life has changed drastically, a change he didn’t fully start to get a hold of until the week leading up to the playoffs.
“Probably about four or five days before the playoffs, when we just had practice for a week before the playoffs, it gave me a lot of time to think, ‘Wow, this has been pretty amazing, but now I’ve got to focus and get ready,’’ said Miller, who spent some of his teenage years living and playing hockey in Coraopolis
“It’s been a wild couple months, for sure. The first couple weeks when I got here, I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m here and going to be in the playoffs again with one of the best teams in the league.’ But come playoff time, I try to keep all those thoughts out of my head and stay focused for the most part.”
For how hectic these past few months have been for Miller, the change is something that wasn’t entirely unpredictable. He had heard the rumors, heard about the possibility that he could get traded. And then it happened, when Miller was on a cross-country flight to Vancouver ahead of the Rangers’ game against the Canucks.
“I didn’t really come into full circle until I got on the airplane and I was told,” Miller said. “At the time I was still with all the guys on the airplane. Some of those guys are some of best friends, so that was tough. But at the same time, as a professional, I was happy I was going to Tampa for a fresh start to be a part of this awesome team.”
Since the trade, Miller has meshed well with the Lightning. In 19 regular-season games with Tampa Bay, Miller had 10 goals and eight assists. The goal total nearly matched his total with the Rangers this season, when he had 13 goals and 27 assists in 63 games. There was a learning curve changing teams and systems, but one that was small, if that.
“There’s a lot of similarities in the system, just some of the verbiage is different,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of similarities on the ice. So it just comes down to being comfortable with the guys on the ice and the coaches and stuff like that.”
Considering Miller has been slotted on the top line with two-time Maurice Richard trophy winner Steven Stamkos, who had 86 points in the regular season, and Nikita Kucherov, who had 100, comfort with his linemates has come rather easily. Playing with such skilled players has eased the transition for Miller, who serves to contrast the two as more of a physical presence.
“I just try to be physical and get to the net. It’s pretty simple, really. I just try to bring my game,” Miller said. “They make it easy for me, and I’m trying to do the same for them. I want to get them the puck when they’re open and try to get to the net and try to keep it easy on each other.”
Thus far, Miller has asserted his game rather well in the playoffs. He’s notched two goals and seven points in 10 games, including what amounted to the game-winning goal to close out the Bruins series. The Lightning, as a whole, are humming, having played fewer games than other remaining playoffs teams, outside of the Golden Knights, who have also played 10 games.
“Hopefully we’re playing our best hockey in the next couple weeks,” Miller said. “We’re doing a lot of good things on the ice. Being able to win the first two series in five games is a testament to how good we can be.”
Now Miller and Tampa Bay will move onto their most difficult challenge yet in the Capitals, who disposed of the Penguins in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday. The keys against Washington, Miller said, are to take care of the puck and be physical. He said he knows the Capitals’ longtime stars, like Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, who hadn’t made it to the conference finals previously, will be hungry. But so is Miller, and he doesn’t want this whirlwind to end anytime soon.
“To be part of a trade and come to this awesome city and then have the baby, it’s been pretty great,” Miller said. “It’s been a pretty awesome spring, and hopefully it’s going to be even better coming up.”