The Rangers signed restricted free agent defenseman K’Andre Miller to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $3.872 million on Tuesday.
Miller, who is entering his fourth NHL season, will be a RFA with arbitration rights when the contract expires after the 2024-’25 season.
With Miller signed, the Rangers’ final in-house order of business will be to sign their last RFA, Alexis Lafreniere, who is also expected to receive a two-year deal.
Based on the projected 22-man roster, the Rangers have approximately $3 million left to sign Lafreniere.
That means the former first-overall pick in 2020 will likely sign for two years with an AAV in the range of $2.5-2.7 million.
Coming off a career year in which he collected nine goals and 34 assists in 79 games, Miller has morphed into a crucial top-four defenseman for the Rangers.
The club’s 22nd-overall pick in 2018 has been logging over 20 minutes a night since his NHL debut in January 2020.
Toward the end of his second season, however, Miller began to find his offensive stride.
After scoring seven goals and dishing 13 assists in 82 regular-season games in 2021-22, Miller was a force in the playoffs and posted two goals and five assists in 20 games.
Miller had his fair share of ups and downs this past season, in which he continued to primarily play alongside Rangers captain Jacob Trouba on the team’s second defensive pair.
There may have been an overemphasis on offense at times, which occasionally cost him on defense.
Still, between the way Miller eats up minutes, his potential upside on offense and his long reach/stride, the Rangers prioritized retaining the 23-year-old.