All stats courtesy of hockeyreference.com.
Next up on my list is defenseman Kevan Miller! Miller appeared in 39 games for the Bruins last season, in which he produced zero goals and seven assists. He didn’t play in any of the team’s playoff games because of two knee injuries, but more on those later. Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Bruins following his senior season at the University of Vermont in the 2010-11 season, Miller has appeared in 324 career NHL games, over which he has recorded 12 goals and 55 assists. The 31-year-old defenseman has only played for the Bruins organization during his six season NHL and slightly over eight season professional career.
Poor Kevan Miller. A broken hand, fractured larynx, torn oblique, a vertically broken kneecap, and then that same knee being broken horiztonally just as he was getting set to return from the vertical break, kept him out for the majority of the 2018-19 season and the entirety of the team’s playoff run. You can’t help but feel bad for the guy, as most of the injuries were either freak and/or happened because of his willingness to sacrifice his body to block shots or make a play. When healthy, Miller is a well-rounded defenseman with good puck-moving ability, and his skating has drastically improved in recent years. But, he is best known as a hard-hitting, physical defenseman who’s willing to drop the gloves and stick up for himself or his teammates. He’s a good third-pairing defenseman, and his toughness and physicality were sorely missed by the team during the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues. If he were there, who knows, it may have been a different series, but I won’t speculate about that right now.
As for what we can expect out of Miller next season, everything is dependent on his health. We already know that he’s extremely unlikely to be ready to start the season, but hopefully he’ll find himself on the ice not too long after (as in, around November). Once he returns, hopefully, the injuries haven’t taken too much of a toll on him and he’s still the same player. I think he will be, as he’s dealt with injuries before and always comes back the same once he shakes off the rust (of which they’ll be a lot this time around), but the reason I bring it up is this season was much worse than he’s experienced before. But, if all goes well and he comes back fine, the Bruins will welcome his physicality back with open arms. It also helps that he’s become a good skater because that’s not always a given with the type of tough, physical defender Miller is known as. He’s also a good puck-handler, and while he won’t put up much in the way of points, he has a decent shot and he’s able to start offensive plays, it just doesn’t normally show up on the scoresheet. So, hopefully for his sake he comes back and is able to stay relatively healthy next season, but I guess, as with everyone else, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens over the course of the season.
Hockey Addict 