Perhaps one of the more divisive grades from the 2023-2024 season will be from the 2024 K’Andre Miller report card. No Ranger has seen as much unwarranted hate since Chris Kreider, with many calling for Miller to be traded for…reasons? The kid has been fine at worst and solid if unspectacular at best, and this is with Jacob Trouba stapled to him for most of the season.
Miller spent 984 minutes at 5v5 with Trouba last season, and the results in the regular season on the whole weren’t that bad. Given the tough competition minutes as a shutdown pair, the duo was over 47% shot share and 49% xG share. The trend was that they allowed some higher quantity, meaning they were seeing more time in their own zone, but they were managing to keep the quality low, to the tune of a 2.57 xGA/60.
Naturally, Miller’s numbers were better away from Trouba, but only marginally so. He and Braden Schneider saw 274 minutes together with similar underlying numbers. His numbers with both Trouba and Schneider showed good defense at limiting quality, but lacking in generating offense.
One of the primary reasons why they lacked the offensive numbers is simply due to role. Miller-Trouba was the primary shutdown pair used by Peter Laviolette. They received most of the defensive zone starts against the opposition’s top-six regularly. Role matters, and while Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox also faced top competition, they got more offensive zone starts because it’s Adam Fox and that’s how you put him in a position to succeed.
So it’s tough to say Miller was as bad as some make him out to be. He wasn’t perfect, but no player is. Even Fox makes mistakes with the puck that wind up in his own net. Miller is steady, puts up good offensive numbers for his role (8-22-30 last season), and–to be blunt–carried Trouba most of the season. If there’s a concern about his point totals dipping from 9-34-43 last season, then we have to note his on-ice SH% dropped from 8.90 in 2022-2023 to 7.92 last season, which likely played a role.
Miller will likely get a full season away from Trouba, but still in his shutdown role and primarily defensive zone starts. Personally, I’d love to see how Miller-Fox and Lindgren-Schneider look, but that may be too wild for some.
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