Prospect Info: K'Andre Miller (D) - Part IV

[Chytilmania]

DeAngelo stealing KAM's first goal puck.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

I think Miller is progressing ahead of schedule really. Happy with his progress

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

My prediction: Miller is gonna go off the rest of the season. The Toronto game was a turning point. I saw real development in front of my eyes. I may be wrong and it could just be a hot streak, but I’m feeling good about this.

Kinda saw that too. He just looked different, in a good way. Tons of confidence, he wanted the puck.

and to think about some of the discussions to send him down in week 1-3

 

[CLW]

The AHL was only a real option for Miller before the start of the covid season.

He had an up and down year last year, but his ups were straight up dominant. When you see that, you work with it and try to figure out how to draw it out on a more consistent basis (in game reps are needed for that.) If he were struggling with the most basic of fundamentals from day 1 and showed no improvement over time then yeah, that calls for a demotion. He 100% hit a wall last year and was probably called on to do way more than he was ready for, but those reps were important.

He hasn't had any real sustained dips this year. He hasn't been mistake free, but neither has Fox.

Agree with @Raspewtin that his game works better at the NHL level than it would at the AHL level. Same with a guy like Zac Jones, who would be more productive in the NHL playing with guys who can do something with the puck when he gives it to them.

KAM has the highest upside of anyone on our roster, which is insane considering that we have arguably the best defenseman in the league who has already won the Norris.

This is a really interesting situation. If KAM breaks out in the next two years what will his next contract look like? He is due for a new one after the 22-23 season.

 

[Rempe73]

I agree there's been real progress recently.
Don't be surprised when he takes temporary steps back in a few weeks. It's the natural path of defensemen not named Fox. He's still making net forward progress.

Yea true but I really think Miller is special. Not Fox, but top pair upside.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Yea true but I really think Miller is special. Not Fox, but top pair upside.

I'd say Miller's upside is perennial Norris contender. That's Fox territory.

Odds of getting there aren't great, but he always was considered a project pick with sky high potential. He just decided to skip the "project" part, which is absurd considering how new he is to the position.

 

[WojtekWolski86]

I'd be thrilled if Miller turned into prime McD. His biggest improvement area is in the neutral zone. McD used to constantly jump plays with IQ and hockey sense. If Miller can get better timing down on when to activate it would go a long way.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I'd say Miller's upside is perennial Norris contender. That's Fox territory.

Odds of getting there aren't great, but he always was considered a project pick with sky high potential. He just decided to skip the "project" part, which is absurd considering how new he is to the position.

I just don't see the offense from him to be a perennial Norris winner. That said, even with Lindgren being not as good this year, I think our top 4 is as good as any in the league. Bottom pairing oof.

 

[Harbour Dog]

I just don't see the offense from him to be a perennial Norris winner. That said, even with Lindgren being not as good this year, I think our top 4 is as good as any in the league. Bottom pairing oof.

Yeah, it may not get there. But with how much more confident he has been handling the puck, starting with the game where he scored the ridiculous goal, I just can't put limitations on him anymore.

I feel like ever since we drafted him, we've been saying he can't do this yet and he can't do that yet, and he's done nothing but annihilate those expectations. Now he's starting to challenge guys with his stick-handling and skating; and I'm done saying that he can't do stuff. He won't get PP1 time on this team; but 5v5, he's beating opposing defensemen to pucks on the forecheck and using his skating to gain centre ice consistently.

We've only seen a small sample of what the end product is going to be with this kid.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

I just don't see the offense from him to be a perennial Norris winner. That said, even with Lindgren being not as good this year, I think our top 4 is as good as any in the league. Bottom pairing oof.

I see him having a great shot, so there should be more offense when he figures out when to use it more. He's not a zubov or a Leetch, if he's getting points it will be from shots from the point and he should do that a lot more.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Yeah, it may not get there. But with how much more confident he has been handling the puck, starting with the game where he scored the ridiculous goal, I just can't put limitations on him anymore.

I feel like ever since we drafted him, we've been saying he can't do this yet and he can't do that yet, and he's done nothing but annihilate those expectations. Now he's starting to challenge guys with his stick-handling and skating; and I'm done saying that he can't do stuff. He won't get PP1 time on this team; but 5v5, he's beating opposing defensemen to pucks on the forecheck and using his skating to gain centre ice consistently.

We've only seen a small sample of what the end product is going to be with this kid.

Honestly with his shot i could see him getting pp time, everyone wants to replace Strome with a forward, i say replace him with fox and give us the option of a having Miller take his shot up high....eventually once he's more acclimated. Thats one problem i have with our pp over the years is that there hasn't been a legitimate hard shot threat from the point to spread the pk out, teams generally collapse when playing us.

 

[Blais to Win]

Can we finally call this a “player discussion” thread?

 

[Rempe73]

I'd say Miller's upside is perennial Norris contender. That's Fox territory.

Odds of getting there aren't great, but he always was considered a project pick with sky high potential. He just decided to skip the "project" part, which is absurd considering how new he is to the position.

Haha yea that’s what I was thinking like why is he so polished? Wasn’t he supposed to be raw? Also yea it’s very hard to tell what he will become, but his floor is very high (which is basically a top 4 D). Miller might be the biggest steal of the rebuild. I don’t count acquiring Fox because we knew he was coming here.

 

[Rempe73]

Can we finally call this a “player discussion” thread?

I was thinking the same thing but idk how to change it

 

[duhmetreE]

I just don't see the offense from him to be a perennial Norris winner. That said, even with Lindgren being not as good this year, I think our top 4 is as good as any in the league. Bottom pairing oof.

His offense will come. He has all the tools. He's focusing on defense for now, as he should.

A guy like Brett Burns became an offensive force later in his career.

 

[Rempe73]

His offense will come. He has all the tools. He's focusing on defense for now, as he should.

A guy like Brett Burns became an offensive force later in his career.

If he can just work on getting his heavy shot through like he did last night, he will get to Burns’ level.

 

[TominNC]

And all it took was a little patience.

Let’s keep that in mind with the next young D-man.

 

[will1066]

He fixed his reads, which corrected his timing, which corrected everything else and allowed him to be aggressive finally in his game.

 

[Levitate]

If he can just work on getting his heavy shot through like he did last night, he will get to Burns’ level.

Extremely unlikely he'll get to Burns' level of offense and this is completely OK, he doesn't need to put up that many points to be a valuable asset to the Rangers

 

[Lays]

I just don't see the offense from him to be a perennial Norris winner. That said, even with Lindgren being not as good this year, I think our top 4 is as good as any in the league. Bottom pairing oof.

How do you not see the offensive upside? Dude went end to end against Florida and burned Mackenzie Weegar who’s become one of the top d-men in the league. Look at his rush yesterday where he set up Chytil. Or his wrist shot goal from the blueline that went top shelf. Dude has the shot and speed to become a legit offensive threat

 

[SnowblindNYR]

How do you not see the offensive upside? Dude went end to end against Florida and burned Mackenzie Weegar who’s become one of the top d-men in the league. Look at his rush yesterday where he set up Chytil. Or his wrist shot goal from the blueline that went top shelf. Dude has the shot and speed to become a legit offensive threat

I think my take on this may be outdated. I remember cringing every time he was on the point on the PP last year.

 

[Rempe73]

Extremely unlikely he'll get to Burns' level of offense and this is completely OK, he doesn't need to put up that many points to be a valuable asset to the Rangers

Yea he doesn’t need to be Burns offensively because he’ll be (hopefully) much better defensively.

 

[ThirdEye]

He's not really going to have a chance to be Burns here unless Fox requests a trade as 35% of Burns' points come from the PP. With that said, the offensive upside is clear as a day. He's got very silky mitts for a guy his size and seems to be mastering the art of pinching. Curious to see what his advance stats look like compared to last year as to me he's quite clearly taken a big step

 

[CLW]

Extremely unlikely he'll get to Burns' level of offense and this is completely OK, he doesn't need to put up that many points to be a valuable asset to the Rangers

Don't underestimate the potential for significant offensive numbers. The kid started out as a forward remember? He's got a great shot, both wrister as we saw last night and a very good slap shot. His problem last season was puck control at the o-zone blue line at times but once that issue is sorted and he starts to lock that blue line down he can be tremendous, also on the PP.

 

[BobMarleyNYR]

This is a really interesting situation. If KAM breaks out in the next two years what will his next contract look like? He is due for a new one after the 22-23 season.

there is no way to know that, really, but it's definitely going to be pretty high, by today's standards, I think anywhere from 4 to 6 bridge... He is only going to improve and it's probably going to be one of the best offensive defenseman in the division by the time his unrestricted.