Prospect Info: K'Andre Miller (D) - Part IV

[haveandare]

It does concern me that he looked absolutely dominant the first 4 or 5 games and now looks fine most of the time but not nearly as good as that. Is it because he was super prepared and other players have “warmed up” and gotten better? Is it just fatigue from playing at this high level? Not sure.

 

[NYR Viper]

It does concern me that he looked absolutely dominant the first 4 or 5 games and now looks fine most of the time but not nearly as good as that. Is it because he was super prepared and other players have “warmed up” and gotten better? Is it just fatigue from playing at this high level? Not sure.

Not to be understated is the fact that he is still coming back from an injury and for quite some time, Trouba was out.

 

[Kodiak]

I am completely concerned at this point about his decision making, his reluctance to play physically, and what appears to be a complete lack of any emotion. He's poker faced all the time. Scored first goal, not even a smile. He does not seem engaged in what is going on at all. My initial thoughts on him were that he will be another Brady Skjei, all the tools but missing the tool box to put it all together. He had a stretch that made me believe I was wrong but now I am not so sure it wasn't pretty accurate.

Young defensemen are inconsistent. There's no need to hit the panic button after a few rough games.

Miller has been making plenty of rookie mistakes, even when he was impressing everyone. He was using his athleticism to recover before any harm could be done. Lately, he hasn't been able to recover in the same way. It may be tougher matchups or that the players now realize that they have to move quickly to capitalize on him. It's hard to say. But as he develops, he will cut down on the mistakes in the first place, so he won't have to recover so frequently, and he will still have his positive attributes. Even when he was looking good early in the season, we were just scratching the surface of what Miller could be.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Young defensemen are inconsistent. There's no need to hit the panic button after a few rough games.

Miller has been making plenty of rookie mistakes, even when he was impressing everyone. He was using his athleticism to recover before any harm could be done. Lately, he hasn't been able to recover in the same way. It may be tougher matchups or that the players now realize that they have to move quickly to capitalize on him. It's hard to say. But as he develops, he will cut down on the mistakes in the first place, so he won't have to recover so frequently, and he will still have his positive attributes. Even when he was looking good early in the season, we were just scratching the surface of what Miller could be.

A Kodiak sighting?

We are absolutely blessed today.

 

[Cmox]

He’s been fine in the OZ. It’s the DZ lapses that are the issue. With that being said he’ll be a fine hockey player.

 

[SML2]

Well your thoughts 2.75 can get you one ride on the Subway. If you can't figure out that calling someone no better than Brady Skjei after 20 games is premature I don't know what to tell you.

By "Brady Skjei" I meant that he has all the individual tools that somehow add up to less than what you would expect. You know, like Brady Skjei. I said that was my initial take, and that he proved me wrong but now I wasn't sure. God forbid someone doesn't lose their shit throwing praise at the Golden Child. As far as my thoughts and 2.75 getting me on the subway, that street runs both ways. Yours don't get you any further . Just because you have the time to make 35000 posts doesn't actually make you any kind of authority on anything, it means you like to talk alot.

 

[SML2]

You view your post as objective? What??

Yes. I am watching his game and I see some things that concern me. It's not a personal attack on him.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

He’s been fine in the OZ. It’s the DZ lapses that are the issue. With that being said he’ll be a fine hockey player.

Neutral zone has been his biggest problem. He's standing up and drifiting outside the dots and trying to be too aggressive at times, plus caught sleeping letting guys get behind him. He's caused a lot of really good chances against in the pitts games because of his NZ play.



I love that he wants to be aggressive and not just back up but he's gotta read the plays better

 

[Kodiak]

Neutral zone has been his biggest problem. He's standing up and drifiting outside the dots and trying to be too aggressive at times, plus caught sleeping letting guys get behind him. He's caused a lot of really good chances against in the pitts games because of his NZ play.

These are some of the mistakes I was referring to earlier. In college, Miller's ability to break up plays around his own blue line was one of his biggest strengths. At the NHL level, he's learning when that is going to work and when it is not. That's going to have to come with experience. He's still breaking up these types of plays on a regular basis, but when he gets burned, he really gets burned.

EDIT: To add to this thought, I don't mind seeing these types of mistakes from young players so long as they are learning from them. These types of plays are the difference between a player trying to make an impact and a player just trying not to make mistakes. I want Miller to keep trying to step up here but pick his spots better. If he were to abandon it, then he may be on the path to "solid but unspectacular".

 

[Filthy Dangles]

These are some of the mistakes I was referring to earlier. In college, Miller's ability to break up plays around his own blue line was one of his biggest strengths. At the NHL level, he's learning when that is going to work and when it is not. That's going to have to come with experience. He's still breaking up these types of plays on a regular basis, but when he gets burned, he really gets burned.

EDIT: To add to this thought, I don't mind seeing these types of mistakes from young players so long as they are learning from them. These types of plays are the difference between a player trying to make an impact and a player just trying not to make mistakes. I want Miller to keep trying to step up here but pick his spots better. If he were to abandon it, then he may be on the path to "solid but unspectacular".

Correct

The only thing concerncing is the 3rd clip in that video is such an easy read to back up and sag to the middle. Like there's no reason to be outside the dots there and let 2 Penguins behind you. And we've seen stuff like that from him these past few games.

Like you said, hopefully he learns from it and these lapses become less common. He needs to find that balance of being aggressive when he can but also living to fight another day at times.

 

[Kodiak]

Correct

The only thing concerncing is the 3rd clip in that video is such an easy read to back up and sag to the middle. Like there's no reason to be outside the dots there and let 2 Penguins behind you. And we've seen stuff like that from him these past few games.

Like you said, hopefully he learns from it and these lapses become less common. He needs to find that balance of being aggressive when he can but also living to fight another day at times.

Agreed. He is definitely making some bad reads. He needs to learn when to step up and when to stay back. These are the growing pains of young players. With his skillset, he will be able to step up more than most other Dmen.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

i'm not worried about him at all. He's a rookie d-man, not everyone can be Fox. Look at P.O. Joseph, he had a great start, especially against us, now he's in the AHL.

 

[Mac n Gs]

This kid, more than others, has always required patience in letting him figure out his game at the NHL level. It's been stated many times over, but he's still so new to playing the defensive position, and he's already leapfrogged from college to the NHL at 21 years old. The raw, physical talent is evident when you watch him play, and it'll take some time for him to learn how to put that all together and figure out what will/won't work at the NHL level.

Just be patient with the kid. He's already shown moments of brilliance in a top-4 role in the NHL.

 

[The New Russian Five]

It would have been naive to think that Miller would dominate the way he did in the first 5 games throughout the season. A couple things to note. Miller probably worked harder than anyone during the off-season to prepare. This was noted through several sources. So he came into shape more prepared than most in the league. Players have gotten their sea legs back at this point so that gap between him and the league has narrowed in that respect.

The other thing to point out is that rookies have an extra level of adrenaline in their first couple games. Players who come out strong and then even out as the season goes out is more the norm than an exception for rookies (especially young ones). Remember Stepan's hat trick in his first game, or that huge playoff goal Kreider had in his first game?

Miller is now playing just the way so many posters who were familiar with him before this season had said he would look like. You can clearly see the physical tools and the skill. However, he is still learning the D position and making defensive lapses. Pretty on point from what I had read before season started.

If anything he is way ahead of the curve of where we all pegged him at the end of last season. Everyone thought he would be going through the motions in the AHL this season, focusing on getting reps. I wouldn't be worried.

 

[NYR]

It does concern me that he looked absolutely dominant the first 4 or 5 games and now looks fine most of the time but not nearly as good as that. Is it because he was super prepared and other players have “warmed up” and gotten better? Is it just fatigue from playing at this high level? Not sure.

It's called an adrenaline rush..

 

[RGY]

Miller could use a game or two off to reset a bit. He does not look nearly as sharp as he did to start the season

 

[Mugless]

22 games in, we should be pretty happy.

 

[NYR]

He literally gets walked every game.
This isn't a knock on him as he's still a kid but he plugs in on a tanking (JG special) team.

Otherwise he'd be in the AHL.

 

[Ola]

It does concern me that he looked absolutely dominant the first 4 or 5 games and now looks fine most of the time but not nearly as good as that. Is it because he was super prepared and other players have “warmed up” and gotten better? Is it just fatigue from playing at this high level? Not sure.

I posted about this because I knew it was coming.

It is 100% fatigue, and it will — should — take years for him to get to a level where he can play consistently at a high level for an entire NHL season.

The marginals are small, they are pushed hard and hammered physically by forecheckers but not the least by shot blocking, and so forth and so forth. Heck, often only the Ds that play for the better teams can hold it together.

It takes so little to really get into it deep for a D in this league. If you are just a little little bit on your heels for a split second when the play turns there won’t be any room to recover. When the puck is moved, if the D in a split second can make a good pass his unit will keep possession and take the play to the other team, all the while forecheckers are trying to knock you out cold, if the pass isn’t made it’s often a dangerous break against and 30 sec on defense.

When you get to a stage where you can do that, the biggest step remains, and that is to be able to do the above when your wrists, ankles, ribs, shoulders and/or whatever body is really sore, the legs are heavy, you been caught on the ice for a few long shifts etc etc etc.

 

[Synergy27]

I mentioned earlier this year, when everyone was slobbering all over this kid, that we’d do well to remember how old he is and be prepared for inevitable rough patches. He’s clearly in one now but still regularly showing why he will eventually be a unique weapon on the blue line. I remain very unconcerned about K’Andre.

 

[True Blue]

Miller could use a game or two off to reset a bit. He does not look nearly as sharp as he did to start the season

You mean he’s an NHL rookie?

 

[RGY]

You mean he’s an NHL rookie?

You are relentlessly exhausting guy. Do you just enjoy being confrontational with everyone on a message board?

All I said was he could use a game or two off to reset and collect himself a bit which is completely reasonable and you have a problem with that too...

Yikes man.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

You are relentlessly exhausting guy. Do you just enjoy being confrontational with everyone on a message board?

All I said was he could use a game or two off to reset and collect himself a bit which is completely reasonable and you have a problem with that too...

Yikes man.

There's no post quoted. You know what that means, right? It means I made a good decision.

I'd love to guess who it is but that kind of behavior is the norm around here. Especially with the older guys bc they need something to demean and argue against in order to feel validated.

Let's see...someone who takes a completely reasonable statement and tries to turn it into a negative...long history of trying to start arguments from nothing. Relentless about it. Is it someone with two words in their name? And a color?

The sad part is even if I guess right there'll be no self reflection or awareness.

At this point I'll see 6 or 7 posts on some pages bc of how many ignores I have going. Makes HF nyr a lot more tolerable.

 

[BroadwayStorm]

everyone dogging k'andre here can eat shit

 

[Chytilmania]

everyone dogging k'andre here can eat shit

I still think he needs to be elevated to Player Discussion and not Prospect Info.