Rangers free agent ‘wouldn’t want to play anywhere else right now’
Changes and big decisions are coming for the New York Rangers after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. The offseason is going to be busy, and figuring out K’Andre Miller’s future will be a big part of it.
Miller is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. He’s due a significant raise, but it’s not as simple as just signing him and moving on to the next big decision. The 25-year-old’s inconsistent play at both ends of the rink must give the Rangers some pause before committing to a long-term deal, despite Miller’s obvious skills and attributes.
This was a tough season for Miller. His production was down for a second straight year after breaking out with 43 points in 2022-23. But even his 27 points this season wouldn’t have been as big an issue if his defensive play was better and more consistent. It seemed Miller was in the middle of one egregious defensive miscue at the worst of times over and over again this season.
For his part, though, Miller is hoping to remain with the Rangers, even though he’s aware a trade is possible.
“It’s kind of hard to talk about my future here obviously, but I have a great agent that is going to help me throughout this summer’s process,” Miller said at Rangers break-up day Monday. “I love being a New York Ranger, I think this has been some of the best years of my life. These past five years have been unforgettable in about every aspect you can think of.”
The 2018 first-round pick debuted on Broadway in 2021. He’s been a constant on New York’s blue line ever since, playing a top-four role on two teams that made deep playoff runs to the Eastern Conference Final.
“I love New York; I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else right now,” Miller said.
Unfortunately for Miller, it won’t be that simple this summer. There will likely be a ton of turnover between now and opening night of the 2025-26 season. It started Saturday, when the Rangers fired coach Peter Laviolette – the third coach fired since Miller joined the Rangers.
“We’ve had, since I’ve been here, three coaches in five years. It’s never easy to go through, and obviously everybody’s having a little different mindset on how to play the game and different systems and different things like that, so that aspect hasn’t been the easiest,” she said. “I wish it didn’t go down like this, obviously, our coaches were great for us this year, standing up for us and really taking the heat of the season.”
Related: Key takeaways from Rangers break-up day, including ‘love’ for fired coach Peter Laviolette
‘Weird season’ made it tough on K’andre Miller ahead of potential free agency
Miller began the season on the top pair alongside Adam Fox because Ryan Lindgren had a jaw injury. When Lindgren returned, Laviolette slid Miller back to the second pair, where he played with long-time partner Jacob Trouba. Two December trades later, Miller was on a pairing with newcomer Will Borgen.
“Didn’t love how I started my season this year, I was listening to a lot of the noise, just not really playing the game I wanted to play. I thought it was a hard season for me to kind of get a grip of how I wanted to play,” said Miller.
“I think it’s obviously a weird season. You go from winning the Presidents’ (Trophy) to having a number of changes within the following months. We did a lot of good things last year and put ourselves in a really good position coming into this year and didn’t really get ourselves to where we wanted to be.”
Lindgren was eventually traded away, too. As were forwards Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Reilly Smith. The constant change shook the locker room, and left the Rangers bearing less resemblance to the 2023-24 squad that reached the Eastern Conference Final.
“All the trades we had this year and all the noise that came behind those, and guys coming in, guys leaving and everything in between … I think there was just a lot of uncontrollables,” Miller offered.
Speaking of little or no control, that’s what Miller faces this offseason. The Rangers could trade him, likely for a pretty good-sized haul considering his size, skill, experience and potential. Or they could try and work out a short- term contract, say two years, that would walk him into unrestricted free agency, if they’re not 100 percent sold on him. Or the sides could work out a long-term contract with a healthy raise, which would be Miller’s preference.
But right now, it’s anyone’s guess what Chris Drury and Co. plan to do. The decision with Miller is among the most important the Rangers will make this offseason.
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