With the latest round of Bruins cuts from training camp, there’s a clear picture of which players have a legitimate shot at winning NHL jobs to start the season. Some like Chris Casto and Tommy Cross are much more long shots than favorites to secure gigs, but one player that’s looked like he’s belonged in the NHL from his first moments in main camp is Colin Miller.
The 22-year-old defenseman was the blue chip prospect acquired in the Milan Lucic deal with the Los Angeles Kings, and is coming off a breakout AHL campaign where he finished with 19 goals and 52 points in 70 games for the Manchester Monarchs. The talented blueliner won the hardest shot competition topping 105-mph, and captured the fastest skating competition in last season’s AHL All-Star game skills challenge.
When Miller was first traded to Boston along with a first round pick and goalie Martin Jones, he had already received the John Ferguson Jr. seal of approval after watching him numerous times over the last two seasons in Manchester. He was already on the “NHL-cusp” category before camp even started when Don Sweeney included him in with Joe Morrow and Zach Trotman after the Lucic trade.
“I think Colin is ready to push for a spot,” said Don Sweeney, back in June at the NHL Draft in Ft. Lauderdale. “I put him in the same category as some of these other players like Joe [Morrow] and Zach [Trotman], who had a good taste [of the NHL]. He had a breakout [AHL] year.
“His game was really loose, he had offensive instincts, he’s got a good shot from the offensive blueline. There’s some structure in Colin’s game now that goes along with those offensive instincts. [He] is willing to transition pucks, and he is a guy that we identified as a group that has sort of emerged — and hopefully will come in and challenge. He’s got a lot of upside.”
As it is now, it would appear Miller, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller, Zach Trotman, Matt Irwin and Joe Morrow could potentially be the seven healthy D-men entering the season. Claude Julien and the Bruins had talked about keeping eight D-men at the NHL level even prior to Chara dropping three shifts into the preseason, and that would seem a wise way to go.
“That might happen, I think that will be a discussion where I’m not going to be the one that’s making that decision alone," Sweeney said. "I think we’ll certainly as a group talk about what we want, and what we want to keep here and whether that eighth defensemen now becomes a guy that we’d rather see playing in Providence. And then bring him up if we need to, or whether we want to keep him here. I think that’ll be decided at the end.”
Miller’s upside has come shining through during B’s training camp in things as simple as breakout drills while flashing his skating mobility and creativity with the puck. His booming clapper from the point has been difficult to miss during games, and is something of a calling card after scoring 19 goals as a D-man last year. He has the top end offensive skills that the Bruins badly need with Torey Krug as the only true offensive defenseman on the roster now that Dougie Hamilton has been shipped to Calgary. Miller’s skating speed and mobility all over the ice is exactly what the Bruins need more of, not less.
"He's been good. At times I think I've seen a guy that wants to show he belongs, and is maybe trying to do a little too much. But that's our job to get him to tone down his game, or relax," said Julien. "But I like his mobility. He's a good skater. We talk about breaking the puck out of our own end, and that's an element that a guy like that can bring to our team since he's such a good skater."
Clearly there’s some work that still needs to be done with him in the defensive zone, and that was also evident when skating with Joe Morrow in last week’s shootout win over the Rangers. But that may be a career-long challenge for a guy like Miller that’s so tilted toward the offensive end.
The one surprising aspect of the 6-foot-1, 173-pounder’s game?
Miller has shown a willingness to play the physical game as well. He won’t be relied on to block shots like Dennis Seidenberg or treat opponents like invaders from the land of Lilliput like Zdeno Chara does in front of the net. But he uncorked a textbook hip-check in his preseason debut vs. the New Jersey Devils that obliterated the puck-carrier, and didn’t hesitate to stand up attackers at the defensive blueline last Thursday night against the Rangers.
Miller topped 27 minutes of ice time in that game against the Rangers with Chara down and out early, and both he and Morrow handled a potentially frenetic experience with poise, playmaking and puck movement. Given that the much-heralded Bruins’ system tweaks revolve around puck movement and skill level among the Bruins D-men corps, it would seem like a tailor-made fit for a guy like Miller.
That’s certainly the way it’s appeared during the preseason, and Miller could play a key role in the Bruins bridging the gap over the next few months with Seidenberg out, and 6-foot-9 Chara not nearly as invincible as he was 5 or 10 years ago.
“There’s a little bit of change in the systems from being in the LA [organization], but with each day I’m getting more and more comfortable,” said Miller. “Hopefully I can help out in that way. Last season in Manchester the ‘D’ was very active in joining the play, and bringing that fourth guy in to try and join the play. I’m used to it in that sense, and trying to bring that to the table.
“Each player has things they’re better at, and things they are worse at. My game is moving the puck and moving my feet, and that’s something I’m trying to do. You have to play loose, and you have to play calm. But there’s a lot of good competition on this team, and in this organization. I’m just trying to keep it simple, play my game and have a good training camp.”
Miller has looked like he belongs with his play, and he certainly answers media questions like a grizzled veteran while sprinkling in the time-honored clichés and truisms that always keep a player out of the headlines. In every way Miller looks like he belongs in the NHL already, and now it’s a matter of finishing strong in the last few preseason games to make sure he starts the season in Boston rather than Providence.
"We're getting closer to our final group," Julien said, "and these are the tougher decisions that we're going to be dealing with at the end."