NHL Insider Grey Wyshynski believes if he was GM Chris Drury of the New York Rangers, he'd have traded K'Andre Miller due to a lack of development.
ESPN's Greg Wyshynski believes if he was GM of the New York Rangers, K'Andre Miller wouldn't be a Blueshirt anymore. Miller is now 25, and the prospect of his being re-signed due to a future cap crunch is in jeopardy.
"I would trade K'Andre," ESPN's Greg Wyshynski told Forever Blueshirts on the RINK RAP podcast. "I think the issue with K'Andre is that I don't think the growth has been there in the way I'd like it to be at this point in his career. Now, you can blame that on the state of the Rangers blue line, partners. I would move him at this point."
Which could lead to him being traded in July.
Miller is a former 1st-round pick who can play on both sides of the puck. He has a great skating ability, has an excellent shot, and can be physical when needed.
An all-around kind of performer that the NHL GMs desire in a top-four defenseman.
He's played a total of 368 games in the NHL, all with the Rangers. While he's played as a shutdown defenseman primarily, he has offensive upside as well.
But his production has waned, and there remains a possibility that rather than re-signing him, GM Chris Drury will trade him.
The aspect of keeping Miller is promising, that is if he can rebound and play like they expect the former-first-rounder will. If not, the team will have allocated extra cap space for someone whose development cycle ended too soon.
A trade would net the Rangers some extra assets for the first-rounder while giving them some much-needed cap flexibility. However, there remains a gamble, if he succeeds on another franchise's roster, they'd have traded away a top defenseman.
Miller makes $3.872 million AAV and is an arbitration-eligible player. GM Chris Drury could play it smart and offer a bridge into his RFA status in a "prove-it" deal we've seen before.
Or he could utilize his leverage and negotiate a big contract. It just depends on how much risk Drury is willing to take on the former 43-point defenseman.
