New York Rangers: K’Andre Miller signs, what is his timetable?

Although the NHL is on hiatus and no games are being played, it hasn’t stopped the front office from working.  The New York Rangers announced that they had signed defenseman K’Andre Miller to an Entry Level Contract

It was a quiet announcement and it came a day after the NHL suspended their season, sending everyone home.  The New York Rangers had signed first round draft pick K’Andre Miller to a three year entry level contract worth $3.825 million and an annual cap hit of $950k.  Miller just finished his sophomore season at Wisconsin and the signing had been anticipated once the Badgers were were eliminated from the Big 10 Tournament.

Miller was drafted 22nd overall in the first round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.  The Rangers had traded up in order to get a crack at him, sending the 26th pick and a second rounder to Ottawa in order to draft Miller.   He had just finished two seasons with the US National Development Team, showing tremendous improvement after converting from forward to defense while still in high school in Minnesota.   He committed to the University of Wisconsin, a fact the team knew when they selected him.

College career

Miller had a fantastic rookie season at Wisconsin, under the tutelage of former Ranger Tony Granato. He made the All-Big Ten Freshman Team despite missing a number of games with a knee injury.  At the time of the injury he was leading the Badgers in scoring. He was one of the top scoring freshman in he NCAA with five goals and 22 points in 26 games.

This season has been a disappointment for Miller and the Badgers.  Expected to contend for a Big Ten championship, they finished last with a 7-15-2 conference record.  While Miller’s offense was slightly off from the previous season, he struggled at times on defense.

He played the last two years the World Junior Championships and it was another bad showing as he United States finished sixth overall with Miller as one of the team leaders.

Miller’s focus has been on playing in the NHL and it was of little surprise that he followed fellow Badger Alex Turcotte who signed with the Los Angeles Kings two days before.  He also signed an Amateur Try Out (ATO) with Hartford and was expected to make his pro debut with the Wolf Pack. Of course, all of those plans were derailed by the COVID-19 situation and now it looks like we won’t see Miller as a professional until training camp opens whenever it is held.

Professional expectations

While most Ranger fans are eager to see K’Andre Miller in the NHL, it’s probably going to take a year.   It makes sense for Miller to get a year of AHL experience to work on his defensive and pro game.  Next season will be the last for Marc Staal and Brendan Smith, opening up two slots for young defensemen in 2021-22.  He will have some stiff competition on the left side from Libor Hajek, Yegor Rykov , Finnish blueliner Tarmo Reunanen, collegian Zac Jones and Matthew Robertson, currently playing in the WHL.

It’s s smart move for Miller and his advisors for him to turn pro, so long as expectations of a season in the AHL is not seen as a setback. Miller is stilll very young.  He turned 20 in January and will be 21 in September 2021 when he could make his Ranger debut.  Miller would benefit from looking at the example of Ryan Lindgren who spent a season in Hartford  at age 20, finally sticking with the big league club at age 21.

He can also look at a predecessor from the University of Wisconsin.  In 2010 Ryan McDonagh turned pro after his junior year and played a half season with the Wolf Pack before making it to the NHL in January 2011 when he was 22 years old.

There’s plenty of time for Miller to prepare to be ready to be an NHL defenseman.  Ranger fans need to be patient, he’ll get there.