New York Rangers Blueshirt Beat, 9/26/17: J.T. Miller Back to Wing
OTTAWA, ON - APRIL 8: Team mates J.T. Miller #10 and Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on April 8, 2017 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images)

The New York Rangers down the Philadelphia Flyers in preseason action, position switch again for JT, and Roster Cuts, all highlighted in today’s Blueshirt Beat. 

What’s it going to be for J.T.?

Yesterday, New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault revealed that the plan moving forward for J.T. Miller was to move him back to wing. Most fans feel Miller is better suited on the wing, freeing him up from some defensive responsibilities. J.T. posted career numbers last season primarily playing on the wing, so we can only hope he will continue to grow in this role.

It should be a nice feeling for Miller as well to finally settle into one position. He has certainly handled the media questions professionally, but at some point, one has to thing getting asked about what position you’re going to play must get old. This also means the staff is quite happy with the play of the young centers like Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson.

Roster Moves

In other news, the Rangers announced some roster moves yesterday.

Forwards Daniel Cantenacci, Cole Schneider and Scott Komaschuk along with defenseman Brendan Crawley have all been sent down to the AHL. No surprises here as all three forwards were brought along as AHL depth players and Crawley, although made some noise in camp, is a rookie.

This appears to be the second wave of cuts, as a few more names were sent down on Saturday.

The Rangers Win!

The Rangers took down the Philadelphia Flyers in OT last night. Henrik Lundqvist was solid in net, yielding only two goals on 39 shots. Rick Nash recorded a power play goal off assists from Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Buchenevich, Mika Zibanejed got on the board and McDonagh tallied the winner in OT.

Pavel Buchenevich looked better tonight, creating plays for his teammates while getting credit for setting up two of the goals tonight. Filip Chytil continues to impress recording an assist on McDonagh’s game-winner.

Youngsters Lias Andersson, Gabriel Fontaine and Vinnie Lettieri continue to impress with their two-way play, all three being rewarded with Penalty Kill time.

That’s all for now in today’s Blueshirt Beat. DON’T forget to check out the Elite Sports Rangers podcast, Real Talk Rangers featuring Derek Radich and Greg Slotnick. You can check the podcast out here.

Neal Purcell has a tremendous passion for New York Rangers hockey and the sport of hockey in general. A graduate of SUNY Cortland in Upstate NY, Purcell coaches both a high school hockey team and a travel team in the winter. Purcell is also a part of a small family business in the Central New York Region.