New York Rangers Sign K’Andre Miller to a Two-Year Bridge Deal
By Conor Power
Well, the waiting game on the back end is over. K’Andre Miller has penned his new deal in the Big Apple and the giant defenseman is going to be a member of the team on Broadway for another couple of years at least as the deal was announced today. It will carry an average annual value and therefore a cap hit of $3.872 million for this year and next. This is exceptional value for one of the best young defensemen in the game and it should be noted this is great work by Chris Drury.
Miller had a great season on the backend for the New York Rangers so this new deal is very good value for the New York Rangers. Miller had 9 goals and 34 assists for 43 points in 79 games on the Rangers’ back end last season, so to say that this contract is good value for a team that is in such a tight cap situation. These lower AAV deals that help bring up the quality of the team without absolutely killing the cap situation should be considered great work.
There is no denying that the Rangers are going to have to give K’Andre Miller a much bigger role in the coming season as they look to take the next steps on their route toward grabbing Lord Stanley and the Holy Grail of the Hockey world. Miller is going to have to be a big part of how the Rangers play next season with some of the depth of the roster having moved on to new homes in free agency.
When the Rangers drafted Miller in the first round many years ago, there were always going to be expectations for this player of becoming a true top-four defenseman and he did that last season. If Miller can break the 50-point mark and help make the second powerplay unit productive, he could really help this Rangers roster take the next step toward getting back to the summit of the hockey world