K'Andre Miller was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes by the New York Rangers on Tuesday before signing an eight-year, $60 million contract. It has an average annual value of $7.5 million.
In return for the 25-year-old defenseman, who was a restricted free agent, the Rangers received a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 or 2027 NHL Draft and defenseman Scott Morrow.
Miller said the Hurricanes will be a great fit for his game.
"I think we’ve always had great battles in New York, at least when I was on the other side playing against Carolina," Miller said Wednesday. "They have such a fast team. They get up and down the ice in a fast motion and do everything as a team. It’s a fun group to watch, and they’ve had a lot of success recently, so I’m excited to join that style of game, and they have a great team over there, so I’m excited."
Miller had 27 points (seven goals, 20 assists) in 74 games for the Rangers last season. Selected by New York in the first round (No. 22) of the 2018 NHL Draft, Miller has 132 points (36 goals, 96 assists) in 368 regular-season games and 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 43 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"It was important to us to find a way to do it without giving up any major pieces off our roster if we could," Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said. "It's a big price to pay, but we think he's a great fit for us."
Miller said he's happy to not have to face the Hurricanes, a division rival of the Rangers, and says their speed game plays to his strenghts.
"I’m super excited for the style that they play. Like I said, getting up and down the ice in a fast motion, making plays through the neutral zone to get the pucks to the forwards with speed and let them do their things, but also joining the rush and trying to create," Miller said. "I think that’s something I’ve built my game around the last couple of years, and only getting better, so it’s great."
Miller said he had a sense he could get moved this offseason, but was not paying attention to any reports on Tuesday.
"It was a great day for me and my family. Obviously life-changing. Me and mom are obviously not only set for life but extremely happy for the position that we’re in and very grateful," Miller said. "On the other note, yeah, I didn’t know all too much about it. I honestly shut my phone off and my socials the last couple of weeks, just with all the speculation and kind of noise with uncertainty with New York. It was good to just kind of decompress and just worry about my summer, getting stronger, getting my mind right, and yeah, in a good spot now. All good."
Tulsky said Miller is a player who fits the Hurricanes' style of play.
"You hear me talk a lot about how hard our scouting department works to identify players who will fit. He was one of them," Tulsky said. "He's a really powerful skater who can close out really effectively, take away time and space, and the aggressive way we play really is going to suit him very well. He's also very strong in front of the net, good at defending and protecting the front of the net, which is always helpful and important and something we can always get better at. I think his skating and recovery speed is going to be really effective for us. When we want guys to get up the ice, they need to be able to get back too. His natural ability and his skating is going to make it really effective for us."
Morrow, 22, had six points (one goal, five assists) in 14 regular-season games for the Hurricanes last season and no points in five playoff games. He had 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) in 52 games for Chicago of the American Hockey League last season.
Morrow was selected by the Hurricanes in the second round (No. 40) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
The conditional pick for the Rangers will be either Carolina’s first-round pick in 2026 or the Dallas Stars’ first-round pick in that draft.
If neither of those picks is a top 10 selection, the Rangers will receive the better of the two. If one of those picks is a top 10 selection, the Rangers will receive the lesser of the two. If both of those picks are top 10 selections, the Rangers will receive the better of Carolina's first-round pick in 2027 or Dallas' first-round pick in that draft.
The trade came on the same day the Rangers announced they signed defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million contract ($7 million AAV).
