It was a bit of a tough year for Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller. Unfortunately for him, his offseason hasn’t gotten off to a good start either. Mollie Walker of the New York Post relays that the blueliner recently underwent surgery to repair an upper-body injury sustained late in the season. His initial plan was to rehab the injury and avoid going under the knife but he ultimately opted for the procedure after the rehab wasn’t working as planned. The hope is that he will be ready to return for the start of next season.
The 25-year-old has been a core defender for New York over his five-year NHL career. He has shown some flashes of being an all-around top-pairing piece with an intriguing offensive game but inconsistency has been an issue for him.
That was the case this year, as it was for quite a few Rangers. Miller played in 74 games, picking up 27 points, his lowest point total since the 2021-22 campaign, his first full NHL season. He also set a new career high in turnovers with 97; his previous high in that regard was 68.
That’s not exactly the ideal platform year heading into restricted free agency this summer, nor does this surgery help on that front. Miller is arbitration-eligible for the first time and is owed a $4.646MM qualifying offer, matching his salary from this season but well above his $3.872MM cap charge. If he files for a hearing, he could ask for a two-year agreement that walks him to UFA status but the team would get the final say on if it was a one-year or two-year award.
It’s also worth noting that GM Chris Drury won’t have a lot of cap flexibility this summer. With the acquisition of J.T. Miller midseason and the long-term record-breaking extension for Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers have just $8.4MM in cap room, per PuckPedia. Miller isn’t the only player who needs to be signed as winger Will Cuylle is in line for a new deal as well as a restricted free agent and should come in around the $3MM mark at least on a bridge agreement. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room to hammer out any type of long-term deal.
Heading into the summer, it felt like the likeliest outcome for Miller was a one-year deal at or near his qualifying offer. Now with the surgery, that might push things even more in that direction over the coming weeks.