New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller is week to week with an upper-body injury, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Miller’s injury status had not been announced.
Miller’s ability to play for the U.S. at the Milan Olympics if selected is not in jeopardy, the person said. The roster deadline is Dec. 31, and the tournament is set to begin Feb. 11.
Miller left the Rangers’ game against Philadelphia on Saturday with about eight minutes left after taking a big hit from Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler and landing awkwardly. The 32-year-old forward appeared to be favoring his right arm or shoulder while in pain on the bench and skating off to go down the tunnel for medical attention.
“You don’t want to lose any teammates,” center Mika Zibanejad said after a 5-4 shootout victory. “When you see your captain go down and you don’t see him come back that obviously becomes (a situation) for us to step up and everyone has to do a little more when a guy like that leaves. Just hoping everything is OK.”
Miller did not travel with the Rangers for their game Sunday night at the Nashville Predators. Coach Mike Sullivan told reporters there after the morning skate that Miller was still being evaluated back in New York.
Winger Artemi Panarin was reluctant Saturday to speculate on the severity other than to say: “It’s pretty sad that he had to leave the game, but I hope that he’ll be all right.”
Reacquired by the Rangers in a trade with Vancouver in January, Miller was named captain before training camp. He has 10 goals and 12 assists in 35 games this season.
Miller played for the U.S. at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and is considered a strong bet to be one of the 14 forwards selected for the Olympics, given his all-around skillset.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL