Category: K’Andre Miller

K'Andre Miller

Statement from the Rangers on today’s video chat with K’Andre Miller

Posted on by Adam Rotter

4/4/20| According to John Shannon, the FBI is now involved.

4/3/20 | From the Rangers:

“We held an online video chat with fans and New York Rangers prospect, K’Andre Miller, during which a vile individual hijacked the chat to post racial slurs, which we disabled as soon as possible. We were incredibly appalled by this behavior, which has no place online, on the ice, or anywhere, and we are investigating the matter.”

From the NHL:

“The National Hockey League is appalled that a video call arranged today by the New York Rangers to introduce their fans to one of the League’s incoming stars, K’Andre Miller, was hacked with racist, cowardly taunts. The person who committed this despicable act is in no way an NHL fan and is not welcome in the hockey community.

“No one deserves to be subjected to such ugly treatment and it will not be tolerated in our League. We join with the Rangers in condemning this disgusting behavior.”

https://twitter.com/TonyDee07/status/1246245653300359179

K'Andre Miller

K’Andre Miller signs entry-level contract with the Rangers

Posted on by Adam Rotter

3/16/20 | The Rangers have officially announced Miller’s signing and that his contract begins in the 2020-21 season.

Adam Rotter: MIller was part of a Wisconsin team that seemed to falter under the expectations that came with having multiple first round picks on the roster. It doesn’t seem like he took a big step forward in his development from his freshman to sophomore seasons but Miller remains an enormous part of the Rangers future. Since he was drafted he has drawn comparisons to when the Rangers drafted Chris Kreider in 2009: raw but with enormous potential and every physical attribute you want from a player. Kreider played three years at BC, needed some stints in Hartford and took a few years before he came close to being the player that the Rangers just invested seven-years in. The Rangers are deep on the left side and can afford to let Miller spend most of, or a whole season, in Hartford next year. As a 20-year old the Rangers don’t need him immediately, especially with how Ryan Lindgren has developed, and Miller, who is still relatively new to playing defense, can take his time to develop and become an impact player down the line.

3/13/20 | 8:30PM: Miller has signed a three-year entry level contract that begins in 2020-21, according to Cap Friendly.

3/10/20 | 12:19PM: Brooks says that the Rangers are nearing agreement with Miller. (NY Post)

8:16AM: Larry Brooks writes in the NY Post that the Rangers are talking with the representatives of 2018 first-round pick K’Andre Miller about leaving Wisconsin.

Miller, 20, just completed his sophomore season at Wisconsin where he had 7 goals and 11 assists in 36 games.

Brooks writes that ideally, for the Rangers, Miller would sign an entry-level contract that begins next season and join the Wolf Pack for the remainder of this season. (NY Post)

Chris Drury said in the Rangers 10/28/19 Prospect Report of Miller, “he’s grown a lot as a player since a lot of us saw him before drafting him. Physically, he’s loaded with a ton of tools, size, skating. There’s a lot of things to like. Defensively, the more and more he plays at high levels, like at the World Juniors and in college, he’s getting better and better.”

For what the Rangers Prospect Reports said of Miller last year, Click HERE.

Chris Peters of ESPN ranked Miller 37th in his list of top NHL prospects, noting that while he had a dip this season statistically and needs to work on his puck management, he is still “very good” in transition and “there’s so much raw talent there.”

Scott Wheeler of The Athletic recently ranked Miller as the Rangers third-best prospect, with him writing that while Miller “hasn’t taken a step forward after an excellent freshman season,” he “remains one of the better defense prospects in hockey.”

Wheeler spent time this season at Wisconsin and wrote that Miller’s sights have been set on MSG and that because of his class schedule, he spends between “30 and 40 hours a week at the rink, not including the full days he’s there on weekends.” (The Athletic)

K'Andre Miller

K’Andre Miller likely to stay in school for at least another year

Posted on by Adam Rotter

4/26/19 | The Rangers produced a video on Miller’s season and featured Miller and his coaches at Wisconsin.

Oscieki said of Miller:

  • “here is a kid that is unbelievably talented, you can see the talent level but his growth is right in front of him and who knows how high it can go.” (NYR)
  • “you can’t teach the size, can’t teach the reach, his athleticism is incredible.” (NYR)

Granato said of Miller:

  • “he’s kind of a franchise player, game changer with elite talent and skill level that could have an immediate impact on our program, he was the guy we identified to be that guy.” (NYR)
  • “Could I see him running a PP in NY in a few years? Yes. Could I see him potentially being on an All-Star team some year? Yes. Could I see him representing the US on an Olympic team? Yes. That would be a great player.” (NYR)

4/25/19 | At The Athletic, Rick Carpiniello profiled Rangers first round pick K’Andre Miller and noted that Miller is planning to return for his sophomore season at Wisconsin.

Miller told Carpiniello that he feels returning to Wisconsin “would probably be the best decision for me.” (The Athletic)

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At Wisconsin Miller works with Badgers associate coach Mark Osiecki and Wisconsin head coach Tony Granato called Osiecki “the best one-on-one teacher” for getting defensemen ready for the NHL. (The Athletic)

Miller said that he and Osiecki spend a lot of time together watching video and discussing how he can improve. (The Athletic)

Osiecki said that parts of Miller’s game and makeup remind him of former Wisconsin defenseman Ryan McDonagh and Granato thinks that Miller could be one of the captains for Team USA at the World Juniors. (The Athletic)

Granato believes that Miller could be a first-pair defenseman and likened him in some ways to both Jay Bouwmeester and Rob Blake. (The Athletic)

For more on Miller’s season and scouting reports, click HERE.

In looking back at the 2018 NHL Draft, ESPN’s Chris Peters had Miller going 19th instead of 22nd and noted that the Badgers were a different team this season when he was on the ice.

Peters adds, “his game continues to mature, and he is getting a lot better in the offensive facets. The sky is the limit for him.”

Peters ranked Miller at 37 on his list of top-50 NHL prospects at ESPN.com.

The Hockey News Future Watch issue recently ranked Miller 62nd in their list.

Adam Rotter: Miller is in a similar spot to the one Chris Kreider was in in the year or so after he was drafted. Unbelievable physical skills, size, speed and seemingly unlimited potential. Kreider has certainly turned into a top-six forward for the Rangers and realized a lot but not all of the potential he had. Miller, because of his raw ability, can draw comparisons to Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Seth Jones, Victor Hedman, Alex Pietrangelo or any of the top defensemen in the league. Will he actually get there and become a cornerstone player like those others? We have no idea. He’s got an absurd amount of skill but also needs time to develop and why staying for another season at Wisconsin, maybe even two, makes sense. Even if he stays all four years at Wisconsin there is not going to be an issue of Miller opting to test free agency, he will be a Ranger, it’s just a matter of when. He should have a big role on Team USA at the World Juniors and if he stays healthy could challenge for the Hobey Baker next season. He’s a big part of what the Rangers are trying to build, they just need to be patient and let him develop into being the best player he can be.

K'Andre Miller

K’Andre Miller is skating and close to returning for Wisconsin

Posted on by Adam Rotter

Rangers first round pick K’Andre Miller has been skating and seems close to returning after suffering an injury in the second week of February.

Miller has progressed from skating in sweatpants on 2/27 to skating in a non-contact jersey on 3/6 & 3/7 and while he is doubtful for tonight’s Wisconsin game, he is on the ice and going through drills with coaches. (Todd Milewski)

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Wisconsin is playing Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten playoffs with games tonight, tomorrow and Sunday if necessary.

At the time of the injury it was said that Miller was “sore” but did not sustain any ligament damage. (The Athletic)

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