This year was very disappointing for the New York Rangers, and one that requires some introspection and personnel evaluation. K'Andre Miller is one of the bigger names who required such evaluation given his contract status but new injury news complicates his future status with the team.
According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, restricted free agent K'Andre Miller has had surgery for an upper-body injury, and the surgery corrects an ailment that occurred toward the end of the season. He attempted to rehab it and play through it, but ultimately surgery was needed to get him ready for the upcoming season.
Miller is a defenseman who has been a bit underwhelming for the Blueshirts, because he has had flashes of being a domineering defenseman who is capable of using his size and speed to impact the game in a way that other's on the roster can't.
Miller's third season (2022-23) saw him finish with 43 points in 79 games played, he followed that up with 30 points in 80 games, and this past season he posted a line of 7-20-27 in 74 games played. From a points per game perspective he's gone from 0.54 to 0.38 to 0.36 over a three year stretch, and this is significant because he's a restricted free agent this summer who is two years away from unrestricted free agency.
The 25-year-old blueliner was on the shortlist of players the Blueshirts could consider dealing to improve their roster this summer, partially because although he has shown flashes of brilliance, his track record to date isn't strong enough to give him a long-term contract with a higher average annual value. His underlying numbers via Evolving-Hockey this season weren't great (48.12 GF% | 49.29 CF% | 48.29 xGF%) and were only slightly better than the prior year.
Miller's proximity to UFA status also make it difficult to iron out a deal, because if both sides agreed to a one-year deal, Miller could end up in a situation where he ends up with all the leverage. A two-year deal would walk him straight to free agency, and anything longer than that would likely be a deal that starts around $6 million per year. For those reasons, it would have been justifiable for the Rangers to try and make a hockey trade and go in a different direction.
This newest update about offseason surgery adds an unknown that could hinder the team's ability to trade him. Teams share medical information all the time when making trades, but they also like to have some assurances that an ailment isn't something that will impact him long term. Those same teams also would want to know when the injury occurred for some context on how it impacted his play, and the overall situation would be much cleaner if it were something that happened early in the season, he had corrected, and then returned to play to showcase he was good to go.
If Miller were up for grabs on the open market, it's fair to say his potential could create a bidding war with multiple teams interested. This situation complicates things just a bit because you don't want to share too much information and then have other teams gain leverage. Teams have different levels of risk tolerance, and if one team decided it wasn't worth the risk, that could hurt his value with fewer teams in the running.
For that reason, Miller is probably more likely to stay in New York. This situation creates an understanding between both sides that he wasn't in a position to play to the best of his ability, and opens the door for a short term deal with a lower AAV that can serve as a launching board if Miller returns to form in 2025-26.