The New York Rangers have come close in recent years to winning the Stanley Cup – but lacking in certain areas has cost them. One of those can be fixed by promoting K’Andre Miller and giving him a shot to play a larger role.
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After all, the defensive side of the ice is supposed to be a strength. In 2023-24, the Rangers ranked seventh in the NHL in goals-against average. While the defensive group is a part of the success, the elite goaltending the Blueshirts have been blessed with from Igor Shesterkin to Jonathan Quick has likely inflated those numbers a bit.
Struggles of Top Pair and Why Rangers Should Elevate Miller
In fact, even as Adam Fox put another Norris Trophy-caliber season on the score sheet, the top pair (which featured him and Ryan Lindgren) failed to tilt the ice in the Rangers’ favor. The duo in 908 minutes together during the 2023-24 regular season generated an expected goals share of just 46.39 percent, according to Natural Stat Trick. In the playoffs, that number between the partners was even worse – at 41.82 percent.
While Lindgren and Fox have proven to be a reliable pairing in the past – perhaps it has gotten stale. Sometimes change is necessary to take a step forward. After all, the top pair is an important unit to match up against the opposing team’s top players. You can’t have them being a net liability out there.
Head coach Peter Laviolette told the media that will “move” through training camp, according to Vincent Mercogliano of USA TODAY Network. So perhaps he’s open to making a permanent change.
Of course, the Rangers won’t be removing their former Norris-winning defender off the top pair – so who replaces Lindgren? It needs to be a left-handed defenseman, meaning Jacob Trouba or Braden Schneider wouldn’t be a candidate. Zac Jones likely won’t be offered that responsibility right away, even after impressing in a limited number of games last season as the seventh defenseman.
This leaves Miller as the…
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