NASHVILLE — The Rangers are facing a temporary setback as their captain, J.T. Miller, will be sidelined for some time.

Miller has been diagnosed with an upper-body injury and is listed as week-to-week following further assessments conducted in New York on Sunday. Currently, there are no plans to place him on injured reserve or long-term injured reserve.

The 32-year-old’s absence in Sunday night’s clash against the Blues marked only his third missed game this season. Previously, he had missed two games at the end of November due to a similar upper-body issue.

“My thoughts remain unchanged from before; he is incredibly important to this team,” said head coach Mike Sullivan following an optional morning skate on Sunday. “J.T. leads this group in countless ways, both emotionally and through his gameplay. His performance has been on an upward trajectory, especially offensively. He was becoming more involved and consistently posed a threat. We talked, and he mentioned feeling progressively better with each game. Unfortunately, it seems like just as he’s hitting his stride early in the season, injuries hinder his progress.”

“We’ll have to navigate through this challenge. J.T. is irreplaceable, not just for his skill but for the significant impact he has on the team in various aspects,” Sullivan added.

Absorbing a hard open-ice check from the Flyers’ Nick Seeler in the third period Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, Miller was upended onto the ice. Philadelphia forward Owen Tippett then tripped over Miller, who was slow to get up before he sat hunched over on the Rangers bench.

Miller ultimately headed to the locker room favoring his right arm/shoulder and did not return for the remainder of the game.

There is belief Miller may have first aggravated an injury in that area in the 2-1 overtime victory in St. Louis on Thursday. This injury, however, is not expected to affect his candidacy for Team USA at the Olympics in Milan in February.

While his roster spot wasn’t guaranteed even when healthy, Miller being off the ice for any amount of time may lower his chances of cracking an already competitive lineup.

This is the third injury stint Miller has run into so far this season. After missing the end of the preseason due to a non-contact lower-body injury he sustained during training camp, Miller had a slow start to the 2025-26 campaign.

It caused speculation as to whether he had fully healed from the preseason injury or not.

Since the two games he missed in November, Miller has posted 10 points (four goals, six assists), including two overtime winners to make it three on the season. He currently has 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points through 35 games.

It is looking like the Rangers will be without both Miller and their No. 1 defenseman, Adam Fox, through at the very least the Christmas break.

Fox has begun skating with the team in a red non-contact jersey, but isn’t eligible to be activated off long-term injured reserve until Dec. 27 against the Islanders.

Depending on how his recovery goes, a more realistic target date for Fox could be Jan. 8 vs. Buffalo.