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K’Andre Miller signs two-year deal, what’s next for Rangers |
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The Rangers inked one of their key (pun intended) restricted free agents, signing K’Andre Miller to a two-year deal with a $3.872 million AAV. With Miller locked up, New York still needs to sign Alexis Lafreniere. The expectation is that Laf will get in the $2.3 million range, though the risk still exists that he could receive an offer sheet. But the chatter associated with that has died down a bit.
Miller will be 25 and a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when this deal ends. My view was that the contract Colorado gave to Bowen Byram - two years, $3.85 million AAV - was going to be the baseline for Miller. I am a bit surprised the deal was that close to Byram, as thought Miller’s offensive ability and better health might move the needle closer to the $4-4.1 million range. If Miller continues to improve, a long-term deal with a much, much higher AAV will be what his expectations and next contract will be.
One key is how the contract is structured. Miller is slated to make $4.646 million in the second year of the contract. That amount will be the RFA qualifying figure after the 2024-25 season and is a pretty good indication that Miller believes his next deal will be a heck of a lot larger than this one. GM Chris Drury kicked the can down the road a bit signing Miller to the two-year contract. Drury gets to see if Miller can take that next step forward while Miller has the opportunities to clean up the warts in his game, listed in the next paragraph.
Miller needs to work on improving his defensive awareness in his own and neutral zone, eliminate the mental mistakes and play with a bit more snarl to get to the next level. He still is learning how to play defense and did so at the NHL rather than AHL level. My hope is that assistant coach Phil Housley, who was an excellent offensive defenseman, can help Miller improve in the defensive side of the puck while Don Muse, who coached the US NTDP squad, can help with the mental aspects of the game having coached younger players.
Per Larry Brooks, the Rangers have approximately $3.05M in space on 12+7+2 without Lafreniere. I would be somewhat surprised if Laf does get an offer sheet, though the chance still exists. If Laf gets 2.3 mil, that will leave New York with almost enough money for a call up if the need arises, but limit them to 22 and not 23 players when the season starts. Mollie Walker and Vince Mercogliano predict a deal in the $2.5-2.7 mil range, which if accurate, depending on roster construction, could preclude a move early in the season.
For all those still hoping that Vladimir Tarasenko returns - a list does include me - we probably should prepared to be disappointed. To make room for Tarasenko, Barclay Goodrow would need to be traded with no salary brought back. Even if that happens, that’s only $3.6 mil in cap room, likely not enough to convince Tarasenko to sign, unless he is willing to take a massive discount. In theory, bringing him would be a solid move, in practice, not sure it happens.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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