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The Boston Bruins have made their first step towards building next year’s NHL group, and it involves a four-year, $10 million contract for third-pairing defenseman
Kevan Miller ($2.5 million cap hit).
First reported by WEEI.com’s DJ Bean, the re-signing was confirmed by the Bruins shortly thereafter, and has really come as a surprise, at least given the priority and payout that came with this deal.
Although No. 86 came through with career highs in goals (5), assists (13), points (18), hits (164), and blocked shots (123), his year was generally regarded as a significant struggle as Miller was almost constantly put into a role above his head on Boston’s top-pairing opposite
Zdeno Chara.
Miller played better down the stretch, and his offensive game was somewhat underrated, but it’s not even June, fellow pending unrestricted free agent and 30-goal scorer
Loui Eriksson is still unsigned, and the Bruins made a player that should not have been a priority, a priority.
The 28-year-old defenseman is not as bad as some will lead you to believe, but the truth is that he’s a physical, hard-hitting third-pairing defenseman on a good team. But the Black and Gold have enough of those --
Dennis Seidenberg ($4 million cap-hit) is under contract through 2018 and
Adam McQuaid ($2.75 million) is on the books ‘til 2019) -- and Miller just further complicates the logjam.
In every way.
The Bruins rolled with eight defensemen this season (none of which with the high-end, top-pairing presence they need), which often left young-and-developing defensemen like
Colin Miller,
Joe Morrow, and
Zach Trotman in the press box as a healthy scratch, and there’s nothing to suggest that won’t remain the case with Miller locked up at $2.5 million per year.
Great teams need depth, and everybody knows that, but the Bruins already have depth.
It’s the true top-four presence they need to plug into their defensive mix.
Kevan Miller, though forced into that role last season, is not that guy.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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