After losing in the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in three seasons, the Carolina Hurricanes have made a splash to improve their roster by acquiring defenseman K’Andre Miller in a deal with the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
In the trade, the Rangers acquired a conditional 2026 first-round pick, a 2026 second-round pick, and defenseman Scott Morrow in exchange for Miller, who was a restricted free agent. Miller signed an eight-year contract with the Hurricanes that carries an average annual value of $7.5 million.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the two sides worked through a sign-and-trade after the Hurricanes had expressed interest in signing Miller to an offer sheet.
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Chris Bengel
Miller just completed his fourth season with the Rangers and tallied 27 points (seven goals and 20 assists) in 74 games. The 25-year-old defenseman’s best professional season came in 2022-23 when he recorded 43 points (nine goals, 34 assists) in 79 games.
Miller became expendable after the Rangers signed former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million deal. Gavrikov is expected to play alongside Adam Fox to make up New York’s top defensive pairing.
Let’s take a closer look at what each team is acquiring and how Miller fits in with the Hurricanes.
The trade
Hurricanes receive
Rangers receive
- Conditional 2026 first-round pick (top 10 protected)
- 2026 second-round pick
- Scott Morrow (D)
Grades
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes were due to make changes on their blue line considering that both Dmitry Orlov and Brent Burns became unrestricted free agents on Tuesday. In acquiring Miller, Carolina made a huge splash on their back end and got a lot younger in the process.
While Miller had seen a decline in his play over the past two seasons, there’s still a lot of upside for the 25-year-old defenseman. After all, he’s just about to enter the prime of his career and doesn’t have a ton of wear and tear on his body as he arrives in Carolina.
Miller is a two-way defenseman that is an above average skater and possesses a tremendous shot. The veteran blue-liner isn’t afraid to jump into the play and put the puck on net. Miller hasn’t tallied a double-digit goal season, but the upside is there for that to happen at some point.
One of the biggest selling points of Miller landing in Carolina is the fact that he isn’t going to be expected to jump into a top pairing role. The Hurricanes already have one of the best defensemen in the league in Jaccob Slavin on the left side. Miller will likely slot into the team’s second pairing with Jalen Chatfield or Shayne Gostisbehere.
The Hurricanes are banking on Miller to return to his pre 2023-24 form, which may be a bit of a risk at a $7.5 million annual cap hit. The upside is definitely there for Miller to be a force once again, but that’s something that needs to be seen first. Grade: B-
New York Rangers
The Rangers are coming off a season in which they missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four years. As a result, general manager Chris Drury was looking to make some changes to the team’s roster.
After tallying a career-high 43 points in 2022-23, Miller had seen his production dip a bit with just 57 combined points over the past two seasons. New York wasn’t comfortable signing Miller to a long-term contract, and that led to Tuesday’s trade.
Scott Morrow is the lone player that the Rangers will receive as a part of the deal. Morrow has just 16 NHL games under his belt with 14 of those contests coming during the 2024-25 campaign. He was being projected as a third pairing defenseman with the Hurricanes, and likely would be viewed in a similar fashion depending on what else New York does this summer.
The right-handed shooting defenseman is an above average skater that has a good amount of offensive acumen in his game. If nothing else, the Rangers got a depth blue-liner back in return for Miller’s services.
As far as the draft picks go, getting a first and second pick in return for a player that didn’t fit into the team’s long-term plans isn’t a bad haul by any means. Obviously, it’s hard to completely grade a deal involving draft picks before seeing who the Rangers select, but it’s certainly a solid return. Grade: B+
