New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury isn't exactly a popular figure among the fanbase, given the team's downward trajectory. Drury has tried to make aggressive moves to put them back into playoff contention, such as trading for J.T. Miller and hiring Mike Sullivan as head coach, but what do they have to show for it? Last place in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, one of the players who Drury moved on from last offseason is enjoying the spoils of being dealt to an eventual Stanley Cup champion. We are, of course, talking about defenseman K'Andre Miller. The former first-round pick had an up-and-down career with the Rangers, and once it was time to give him a contract, Drury instead opted to move on fro him, and dealing him to the Carolina Hurricanes, and signed an eight-year, $60 million contract extension.
Nearly a year later, Miller is now a Stanley Cup champion. On Sunday night, the Hurricanes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 6 to win their second-Stanley Cup title in franchise history. So one year away from the Rangers, and Miller is already a champion.
With that, Drury is already the early loser of the trade.
Chris Drury's K'Andre Miller trade backfires as former defenseman wins Stanley Cup
Miller's tenure was far from consistent. He showed flashes of being a legitimate top four defenseman of the future for the Rangers, with the offensive production to boot. But his defensive lapses were at times maddening. Instead of committing $7.5 million per year on a new contract, Drury opted to instead trade him to another team, while they could sign Vladislav Gavrikov on a seven-year, $49 million contract. Gavrikov had a good first season with the Rangers, but predictably, another former Ranger shined with the Hurricanes.
In the regular season with Carolina, Miller recorded eight goals, 29 assists, and a plus-seven plus/minus ratio in 72 games. Those were numbers that Rangers fans were used to for the majority of his time in New York. But in the playoffs, Miller stepped up his game.
Iin 19 games, Miller recorded nine assists, a plus-12 plus/minus ratio, 33 hits, and 29 blocked shots while leading all Carolina defenders with over 24 minutes of ice time per game. Miller's play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs didn't go unnoticed either, as Wayne Gretzky heaped huge praise on him durin a TNT broadcast.
“Defensively, K'Andre Miller is playing as well as I've ever seen a defenseman play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs,” Gretzky said, h/t The Hockey News. “He is just solid offensively, but defensively, nobody can get around him. He's like a brick wall, and when he's not out there, Slavin is.”
Now, Miller is going to have his name etched on the Stanley Cup, but not with the Rangers like many had anticipated. He was close during his career with the Rangers, but his two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals did not result in a Stanley Cup Final berth. Instead, he did so with a team that has been consistently great in recent years, and knows how to get the best out of their defensemen.
As for Drury, the trade will go down as another item on his list of roster decisions that flopped.
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