Speculation: Speculation: Roster Building Thread - Part XXIV

[Lays]

He's one bad season from the KHL/SHL at this point

He already should be there

 

[Avery16]

He's one bad season from the KHL/SHL at this point

Would like to see what chemistry he has with Spooner

 

[chosen]

His second half fall off is greatly exaggerated. It’s interesting how patient some are with Kakko but once Miller makes a mistake people are quick to call him out for being a low IQ player

Mistakes by defensemen are more serious than mistakes made by forwards.

 

[chosen]

because we had exactly one other LHD who was competent.

He hit the rookie/college wall, i think he'll be really good this year.

Hope you're right. I still have doubts about his instincts.

 

[chosen]

...Miller can make plays that even Adam Fox couldn’t make due to his superior strength, skating, and reach....

Just, wow.

 

[chosen]

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say there’s zero chance Robertson and Jones beat out Miller for a spot

Miller is better than both of them, what are we even discussing lol

Jones was better last season, albeit in a far smaller sample size.

 

[NYR Viper]

Jones was better last season, albeit in a far smaller sample size.

I think if we compare Miller at the beginning of the season to Jones at the end of the season, Miller was the better overall d-man.

In saying that, it's great the team has both

 

[duhmetreE]

Miller had about one egregious ef up per game, a wiff on a pass, a wiff on a shot. He was too soft on the puck. No one else on the team came close to blunders like that. Additionally he got caught flat footed way too often and his offensive zone ability seemed to take a hit as well. Let's not mention net front presence or along the boards play.

In his rookies season Kakko looked bad too, some of the worst metrics in the league, and no one hides that fact. Kakko was way better last year though, let's hope Miller makes strides this year as well.

If you're going to put a magnify glass on the negatives and just forget about all the positives and brights spots to an extremely young and raw defenseman.... I don't know what to tell you.

Your expectations do not line up with reality.

 

[Lays]

Just, wow.

We’ve seen it this past year. Miller has ability and tools that Fox does not. I’m not saying he’s better, he’s just much more physically gifted. One of the most physically gifted players in the entire league.

 

[Lays]

Mistakes by defensemen are more serious than mistakes made by forwards.

Mistakes made by rookie defensemen of the NCAA who didn’t start playing the position until age 16 are apart of the process. Miller will learn

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Mistakes made by rookie defensemen of the NCAA who didn’t start playing the position until age 16 are apart of the process. Miller will learn

Something Miller and Jones have in common.

 

[chosen]

If you're going to put a magnify glass on the negatives and just forget about all the positives and brights spots to an extremely young and raw defenseman.... I don't know what to tell you.

Your expectations do not line up with reality.

It's fine to have high expectations for a big, young defenseman, but that doesn't wipe out that he made Skjel-like mistakes last season.

He could still end up a top-pair guy. He could still end up a bottom pair guy. It's too early to know.

 

[chosen]

We’ve seen it this past year. Miller has ability and tools that Fox does not. I’m not saying he’s better, he’s just much more physically gifted. One of the most physically gifted players in the entire league.

He is not more physically gifted to play D in the NHL than Fox in any way whatsoever. Miller is larger and faster in a straight line. That might make him more physically gifted than Fox in a who's larger contest or in a speed skating contest, but he is better than Fox in nothing that pertains to being an NHL defenseman.

 

[chosen]

Mistakes made by rookie defensemen of the NCAA who didn’t start playing the position until age 16 are apart of the process. Miller will learn

He might learn. He might not, but this excuse that he started late will exist for how long?

 

[jay from jersey]

I

It's fine to have high expectations for a big, young defenseman, but that doesn't wipe out that he made Skjel-like mistakes last season.

He could still end up a top-pair guy. He could still end up a bottom pair guy. It's too early to know.

I’m pretty interested to see how his offense progresses. We’ve already seen him skate the puck up ice like a moose. But by the end of last year he was shooting more thru traffic from the point, you can tell he was getting more confident with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone.
Same can be said for Schneider really. When you have 2 big fast talented guys like that, that can contribute on the offensive side and move the puck well in transition, your D becomes really hard to play against because of all the ground they can cover

 

[NYR Viper]

Here is my takeaway from Miller's rookie season:

The team didn't have any pre-season games last year and yet Miller made the team out of camp and looked really good. What that says to me is that he has the physical tools and ability to be a really good d-man in the NHL.

As the season progressed, it felt like either he wasn't completely healthy or he was overthinking the game a bit. I am sure the coaching staff was trying to work through some growing pains with him to the point that perhaps he was reacting or adjusting to the plays in front of him a split second too slow. That will happen to someone who is newer to a position in general until it becomes second nature. On top of that, with the way he plays defense, if he moves in the wrong direction he will be out of position BY A LOT because of his superb skating. This isn't a Girardi or Sauer who may make a small mistake but are not moving fast enough to be wildly out of position.

All in all, I think we saw a young player going through some growing pains but wat his first half showed me is that when left along to actually play defense, he has a very unique ability to kill offense for the other team while making solid decisions moving the puck up the ice.

 

[Lays]

He is not more physically gifted to play D in the NHL than Fox in any way whatsoever. Miller is larger and faster in a straight line. That might make him more physically gifted than Fox in a who's larger contest or in a speed skating contest, but he is better than Fox in nothing that pertains to being an NHL defenseman.

You just said absolutely nothing in this post. You talk like you’re disagreeing with me that Miller is more physically gifted than Fox but then you agree in your comment. Sounds like you’re just looking to argue for the sake of it.

 

[Lays]

He might learn. He might not, but this excuse that he started late will exist for how long?

Idk probably when it’s not year 4 of him playing defense? What do you mean how long will this excuse last? Miller was a rookie this past season. You’re acting like we’re talking about Kreider here.

 

[romba]

If you're going to put a magnify glass on the negatives and just forget about all the positives and brights spots to an extremely young and raw defenseman.... I don't know what to tell you.

Your expectations do not line up with reality.

His mistakes were some of the worst I’ve seen. They weren’t simply mental mistakes, they were stuff no one close to the pro level should be making on a daily basis. You don’t need a magnifying glass to expose them. Can he improve? Sure, he’s young and raw and showed spurts of nice skill, anticipation, and speed. Limit the mistakes and improve his positives and he can def be successful and then even more

 

[duhmetreE]

His mistakes were some of the worst I’ve seen. They weren’t simply mental mistakes, they were stuff no one close to the pro level should be making on a daily basis. You don’t need a magnifying glass to expose them. Can he improve? Sure, he’s young and raw and showed spurts of nice skill, anticipation, and speed. Limit the mistakes and improve his positives and he can def be successful and then even more

I don't think anyone is turning a blind eye to the mistakes/flaws. They are coachable imo.

He was bad on the PP/blueline. He looks awkward turning around to skate sometimes. He had some mental lapses.

His recovery is arguably the best in the NHL. His 'shutdown ability potential' is arguably the greatest in the NHL imo. His positives far outweigh the negatives. How he smothered players like Crosby behind the net and a player like Barzal in transition... that's not coachable. His high's are astronomically high.

 

[Fitzy]

Mistakes by defensemen are more serious than mistakes made by forwards.

Not always

 

[pld459666]

Regarding Miller, I think the coaching staff maybe over coached the kid. He's not absolved of blame, but when you have to think the game and you are a rookie like he was, It's easy to not process the decisions you have to make and that leads to mistakes. Remember for all the good he did early, he was still shifting from NCAA to NHL and the speed of the game is faster. Reads and Decisions have to be made quicker

Personally, regardless of how good he looked early, he played too much far to often down the stretch.

Should have been getting 17-18 minutes a night, not the 21-23 he was getting far too often.

I am expecting him to have a better grasp on his processing this year and hopefully, he takes the next step of not falling off a cliff 50-60% of the way through the season.

We hopefully have a full slate of gams this year, we are going to need him to be at least solid for us in February/March/April

 

[TheDirtyH]

Maybe just me, but I didn't think there was a point in the season where Miller looked worse than any defenseman not named Lindgren, Fox, or Trouba. That may not mean that the way he played would've made him a top-4 defensemen anywhere in the league, but he was never worse than that for us.

This year he'll have a little more insulation with Nemeth behind him. He may or may not continue on the second powerplay unit. I expect him to take a while to really 'pop,' but to my eyes he had maybe on two or three week stretch where he really struggled, and was otherwise good enough. Never got a challenge from the likes of B.Smith, Hajek, etc.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Regarding Miller, I think the coaching staff maybe over coached the kid. He's not absolved of blame, but when you have to think the game and you are a rookie like he was, It's easy to not process the decisions you have to make and that leads to mistakes. Remember for all the good he did early, he was still shifting from NCAA to NHL and the speed of the game is faster. Reads and Decisions have to be made quicker

Personally, regardless of how good he looked early, he played too much far to often down the stretch.

Should have been getting 17-18 minutes a night, not the 21-23 he was getting far too often.

I am expecting him to have a better grasp on his processing this year and hopefully, he takes the next step of not falling off a cliff 50-60% of the way through the season.

We hopefully have a full slate of gams this year, we are going to need him to be at least solid for us in February/March/April

What's interesting is how Lindgren and Fox handle their first full season. It might seem crazy but this'll be the first 82-game season for them and for Kakko despite being on the team full-time since 2019.

 

[Fitzy]

What's interesting is how Lindgren and Fox handle their first full season. It might seem crazy but this'll be the first 82-game season for them and for Kakko despite being on the team full-time since 2019.

Considering we have the worst crop of reserve veteran defensemen in the league we're gonna be rooting hard for no injuries or some fast track development for the Hartford kids.