New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller is very hard to figure out for both the team and their fans.
On one hand, Miller, 24, can look like a solid defenseman who makes great plays with the puck, is smart in the defensive zone, and contributes points. This is the Miller that Rangers fans love because he is fun to watch and because he shows so much promise for someone who is 24 years old.
On the other hand, this same defenseman can look like he does not belong on the ice. This version of Miller is prone to making a lot of mistakes and is someone who cannot be trusted in the defensive zone.
As such, both the team and their fans have to take the good and the bad when it comes to Miller. Let’s first take a look at the positives Miller brings to the table.
For starters, Miller is someone who can put up a good amount of points from the blue line. As of this writing (Thursday, October 31), Miller has 107 points (30 goals and 77 assists) in 303 career games.
Miller is great at rushing the puck up the ice, joining the offense on plays on the rush, getting open in the offensive zone, and he also has a great shot. In addition to those positive attributes, Miller also has great vision and is able to find the open man with crisp passes that either lead to scoring chances or goals.
Miller is also great at breaking up plays and stealing the puck with his long reach. He is able to poke the puck away from opposing forwards with relative ease whether he is standing in front of them or is chasing them from behind.
Believe it or not, Miller also provides a veteran presence on the team’s blue line. He may only be 24 years old, but he has already played over 300 games and has been on the team for two long playoff runs, which means that he knows what both he and the team need to do in order to succeed at the highest level.
Lastly, Miller is someone who is very well liked by his teammates. His teammates say nothing but good things about him and seem to appreciate how much fun he looks like he is having every day as an NHLer.
With all of that said, however, there are several things not to like when it comes to Miller’s game. For starters, he gets caught out of position a lot in his own zone.
More often than not this season, Miller chases pucks into the corner and ends up leaving someone open in front. This is both a mental error and a communication error with his defense partner, who is currently Adam Fox.
It is these kinds of errors that hurt the team. They lead to quality scoring chances as well as goals against, something that has happened a lot to Miller both this season and in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
Secondly, Miller takes too many chances in the offensive zone. He gets caught pinching in at the wrong times, sometimes goes too deep in the offensive zone with the puck and ends up losing it, and he also sometimes gets caught flat-footed at the offensive blue line.
There is no doubt that Miller has solid offensive instincts. With that said, he cannot continue to be careless with them because the puck ends up coming back the other way and usually ends up with a negative outcome.
Lastly, there are times when Miller looks lost out on the ice. It is during these times where he looks like he has no confidence, plays tentatively, and makes a lot of poor decisions.
Both the Rangers and Miller cannot afford to have this kind of inconsistent play from someone who is one of the team’s top four defenseman. Miller has been in the league for five years and needs to learn how to be a more consistent defenseman.
Again, there is a lot to like about Miller, especially on the offensive side of the game, but if he does not start playing his position better, the Rangers might need to think about potentially moving on from him.
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