This past season was a rough one for the Rangers who went from a perceived Stanley Cup contender to missing the playoffs altogether. Along the way, GM Chris Drury tried to shake up his roster while some of his older veterans could still be available as further shakeups are believed to be desired.
It appears that one player who could be in the mix in a shakeup deal is defenseman K’Andre Miller. In a recent appearance on Sportsnet 590 (video link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Miller’s name is definitely out there as Drury is trying to gauge the market for some of his players.
Two years ago, it looked like the 25-year-old had taken a big step forward toward becoming an all-situations core blueliner with a 43-point breakout year while logging more than 22 minutes a night. While New York would have preferred to sign him to a long-term deal at that time, their cap situation forced them to pursue a bridge option instead with the sides agreeing on a two-year, $7.74MM pact.
Unfortunately for Miller and the Rangers, his play took a step back the following year and another step back this season. Offensively, his output dropped to just 27 points in 74 games while some ill-timed defensive miscues helped contribute to the team going from being one of the stingier defensive teams in 2023-24 to one in the bottom half of the league in that category this season.
While this is generally the time that a player would sign a long-term deal coming off a bridge pact, Friedman suggests that the team isn’t ready to make that commitment at this point. With two RFA-eligible seasons remaining, they could theoretically look to work out a one-year deal but the back-dated nature of his bridge deal puts his qualifying offer alone at $4.646MM. Between that and Miller being eligible for salary arbitration, even a one-year deal might be costlier than they can afford.
Per PuckPedia, the Rangers enter the summer with just $8.4MM in cap space with Miller and winger Will Cuylle being their most prominent players to re-sign. But considering the two of them alone could cost that much let alone filling out the rest of their roster or trying to add an impact player, it’s certainly understandable that Drury is at least exploring what level of interest would be out there in Miller to see if a feasible trade presents itself. But if one does, New York will have a big hole to try to fill on their back end moving forward as well.