Hurricanes Brass Touts K'Andre Miller As The Perfect Fit For Their System

The Carolina Hurricanes went out and specifically targeted K’Andre Miller this offseason, giving him an eight-year, $60 million contract. 

This is a lot of money to give to a defenseman who hasn’t quite established himself as a top-pairing blueliner just yet. 

With the New York Rangers, Miller showed a lot of promise early on in his tenure, but seemed to take steps of regression over the past two seasons. 

However, there’s a lot to like when it comes to Miller, as he has all the tools to be an elite defenseman one day. 

The 25-year-old's 6-foot-5 frame is intimidating while he has the ability to play a physically demanding game, and don’t forget about his speed as well. 

In the ideal system and under the right coaching, Miller could blossom into an all-star caliber player given all of his raw talent. 

Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky firmly believes that Miller is the perfect player for the way his team wants to play hockey and, he’ll fit right into the fold. 

“It’s a big price to pay, but we think he’s a great fit for our system,” Tulsky said. “You hear me talk a lot about how hard our scouting department works to identify players who will fit. He was one of them.”

Rod Brind’Amour shared a similar sentiment, emphasizing that Miller is exactly the kind of player he was looking for. 

“Everybody’s looking for big defensemen who have that mobility,” Brind’Amour said. “He certainly has the potential, as we’ve seen. I think it’s a really good move for us. We needed a guy like that.”

It appears that the Hurricanes organization fully believes in Miller’s potential. 

The Hurricanes have a unique culture under the tutelage of Brind’Amour, and bringing Miller into this already established group may help him unlock a version of himself he couldn’t with the Rangers. 

The words of Tulsky and Brind’Amour were a strong endorsement of Miller, a show of complete faith and appreciation that the Rangers have not quite shown him. 

Now, we’ll have to see if a change of scenery will be the difference maker in helping Miller truly break out.