Miller chooses Whalers over North Dakota
By Matt Mackinder –
After June’s NHL draft, the Plymouth Whalers were looking to start the season with two first-round picks on their roster in Stefan Noesen and Rickard Rakell.
Not too shabby, but that number rose to three when J.T. Miller, a 2009 draft pick of the Whalers and 2011 New York Rangers’ first-rounder, opted to play in the Ontario Hockey League this season rather than embark on a college career at North Dakota.
Miller played the last two seasons in Ann Arbor for the United States National Team Development Program and after assessing his options for next year, he ultimately chose the OHL route over the NCAA.
“Basically what I did was weigh all my options to see how I could get to the NHL the quickest,” said Miller, an 18-year-old forward from East Palestine, Ohio. “College hockey realignment didn’t have anything to do with it. I just went with my gut and realized I need to look out for myself. Plymouth should have a pretty good team this year and has one of the best coaches in the league with Mike Vellucci. I’m glad it’s worked out the way it has.”
Miller signed with the Rangers in late July and realistically should only play one year in the OHL as he would be eligible to play minor pro next year, since he was drafted out of the NTDP.
“I think once I was drafted by the Rangers in the first round I only saw myself playing one, maybe two years at North Dakota,” admitted Miller. “I only plan on being in Plymouth this next year and then hopefully, the NHL. I have the mindset that playing in the NHL is all I want to do and I’ll do whatever I need to do to make that happen.”
Along with playing for the Whalers, Miller is also hoping he can gain a spot on the U.S. World Junior team after going to the evaluation camp this past week in Lake Placid, N.Y.
In any event, Miller is gearing up for what he said should be an exciting season.
“I’m pumped to get to camp (Sept. 1) in Plymouth,” said Miller. “I’ve already played two years of juniors, but going to the OHL is a different style of game. I think I’ll be fine. I usually adapt to change pretty quickly. I just want to be more consistent on a game-by-game basis and work on improving my overall game.”
Even after Miller declined the OHL in 2009 and again in 2010, he said Vellucci and the Whalers staff respected his decision to play for the NTDP. That’s not to say that Vellucci wasn’t in touch with Miller.
“They were never all over me, so to speak, but we did talk a little bit,” said Miller. “After the NHL Draft, they started to call a little bit more and like I said, I looked at all my options and feel I made the right choice in going to Plymouth. They always seem to have a good team and a lot of players have moved on from there to have pretty good NHL careers.”
When asked if he hopes to join the list of Whalers to go on to a solid pro career, Miller didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely,” Miller said. “That’s definitely the plan.”