How Hurricanes defenseman K’Andre Miller fared in first game against former team
K’Andre Miller of the Carolina Hurricanes was swamped by the media Wednesday morning at Lenovo Center.
Understandable. The defenseman, for the first time in his NHL career, would be trying to beat the New York Rangers, the team that made him a first-round draft pick in 2018.
Miller, traded to Carolina in the offseason, was injured and not in the lineup Nov. 4 when the Canes played the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Canes shut out the Rangers that night in what would have been a triumphant return for Miller to an arena that was his home for the first five years of his career.
But the Rangers came to him Wednesday for the Metropolitan Division game as the Hurricanes began a seven-game homestand, and New York skated off with a 4-2 victory.
The Canes (14-7-2) got a power-play goal from defensman Shayne Gostisbehere in the second period and a third-period score from winger Seth Jarvis, his 12th of the season. But the Rangers, a much better team on the road than at home this season, held on as goalie Igor Shesterkin was ultra sharp most of the night with 36 saves.
Noah Laba and Artemi Panarin each had goals for the Rangers, 10-4-1 away from New York, and Vincent Trocheck had the game-winner against his former team early in the third. Will Cuylle added an empty netter at the end to seal it.
After the morning slake Wednesday, Miller was asked if the game would be an emotional one, “Honestly, a lot,” he said. “But I’m just trying to focus on hockey. I think it will be an emotional game, but I’m just looking forward to having a good game.”
Miller, who had a team-high 24:08 in ice time, had a shot on his first shift and hit the post in the third with the Canes trailing, 3-1.
“I wanted that one,’ he said. “The puck’s just not going in the net. We’re getting our chances, getting shots, creating looks. Obviously they have a pretty good goalie over there who made some pretty good saves.”
Miller, 25, was the 22nd overall pick in the 2018 NHL draft and made his NHL debut in the pandemic shortened 2020-21 season. He was in a Rangers uniform for 368 games over five seasons, a fixture on the New York blue line, often going head-to-head with the Hurricanes.
“Those were some of the best years of my life, and really where I got to grow as a human, as a hockey player, a person,” Miller said Wednesday.
And then he left for Carolina. On July 1, as NHL free agency began, the Hurricanes announced they had acquired Miller in a major sign-and- trade deal that sent conditional 2026 first- and second-round picks to New York along with defenseman Scott Morrow.
It was a long-term commitment between the Hurricanes and Miller — eight years, with an average annual payout of $7.5 million. It sent ripples through the league and was considered a critical pickup for Carolina, which had veteran defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov leave in free agency.
“Obviously, I knew what the summer might entail,” Miller said Wednesday. “It was not unexpected. It was a little shocking to go through that experience.”
Miller soon moved to Raleigh and began workouts with Canes defenseman Jalen Chatfield, preparing for his first season with his new team. An injury kept him out of the preseason games, but he could not have scripted his debut game with the Hurricanes any better.
In the season opener against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 9, Miller scored twice in a 6-3 victory at the Lenovo Center, the second in quarterbacking the power play. He was named the game’s first star, hearing the roars from Canes fans.
“Amazing,” he said that night.
But Miller’s first season has been disjointed, much like the Canes’ season. He missed six straight games in late October and early November — the sixth at the Garden — as the Canes have had to deal with a string of injuries on the back end.
“He’s been great. It’s been everything we had hoped for,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Wednesday. “You kind of know the player from coaching against him, but you don’t know what his impact can be.
“When he’s on, he’s an elite player. He’s been a little nicked up his year, unfortunately, so we’ve missed him a little bit. But when he’s going, feeling good, he’s been really effective.”
Miller, who has not scored a goal since opening night, has eight assists in his 16 games, averaging 22:51 in ice time. He had two assists in the 4-3 win over Winnipeg on the Canes’ recent four-game road trip, his fourth multi-point game of the season.
Miller said he enjoys living in Raleigh, saying it has a “little bit different lifestyle” from the streets of New York. As for playing with the Canes and in Brind’Amour’s system…
“It’s been great,” he said. “I think it fits my game tremendously. It was pretty easy for me to step into this system. I think I’ve done a good job of embracing a new challenge and new systems, and I feel more comfortable each game and with my confidence in the system.”
