K'Andre Miller

Just prior to the draft, the Rangers had sent their 26th and 48th overall picks to the Ottawa Senators to trade up for No. 22.

Two years prior to his NHL draft, Miller had already committed to attending the University of Wisconsin to play college ice hockey with the Wisconsin Badgers.

K'Andre Miller (born January 21, 2000) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Miller was born on January 21, 2000, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, He began ice skating at the age of two, and took up ice hockey shortly afterwards.

In addition to playing hockey, Miller was a child actor and model for Target and Honda, and he played American football under coach, former Major League Baseball pitcher, and family friend Rick Helling.

Originally a forward on his youth hockey teams, Miller's role model was Mikko Koivu, longtime captain for the Minnesota Wild.

He only volunteered to switch positions while playing for Minnetonka High School, which needed an extra defenseman.

After registering five goals and 11 assists during his second season with Minnetonka, Miller left his high school to join the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP).

He left Minnetonka after two years to join the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, with which he spent two seasons playing in the United States Hockey League and in international tournaments like the 2016 World U-17 Hockey Challenge and the 2018 IIHF World U18 Championships.

After his time in the development program, Miller spent two seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers while also appearing in two consecutive IIHF World Junior Championships.

Miller left Wisconsin after two seasons to sign a contract with the Rangers.

Playing on the team's under-17 squad during the 2016–17 minor ice hockey season, he recorded three goals and 14 assists for 17 points in 54 regular season and tournament games.

Additionally, he joined Team USA for 34 United States Hockey League (USHL) games, during which he added an additional seven assists.

The following year, he was promoted to the NTDP's under-18 team, with whom he scored nine goals and 29 points in 58 regular season and tournament games.

His four goals and 12 assists in 22 USHL games, meanwhile, gave Miller an average of 0.73 points per game, the fifth-highest among USHL defensemen that season.

He was selected in the first round, 22nd overall, by the Rangers in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Miller began ice skating at the age of two.

He was primarily a forward, modeling his style of play after Mikko Koivu, but switched positions when Minnetonka High School needed another defenseman.

Coming off of his stint with the NTDP, Miller was the first Minnesota native taken by a National Hockey League (NHL) team in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, going in the first round, 22nd overall, to the New York Rangers.

Newly appointed Wisconsin head coach Tony Granato had voiced a desire to build the Badgers' 2018–19 season around their young defensemen, and Miller was partnered with fellow freshman Ty Emberson.

Through his first six games, Miller had seven points and led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with a +9 plus–minus.

One of those seven points was the Badgers' first goal of the season, which broke open scoring on a 3–0 win over the Boston College Eagles on October 12, 2018.

By Wisconsin's holiday break, Miller led the team with 17 points and had been twice named the Hockey Commissioners' Association National Rookie of the Month, for October and December.

Although his season came to a premature end after suffering a leg injury during a February 9 game against the OSU Buckeyes, Miller finished the season with five goals, 22 points, and a +7 rating, and he was a finalist for Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year.

He was also named to the 2019 All-Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Following his successful freshman campaign, Miller entered the 2019–20 NCAA season as one of only two unanimous selections to the preseason All-Big Ten First Team.

He was suspended during the preseason for an unspecified violation of team rules but was able to rejoin the team for their season opener against Boston College.

His sophomore season was less successful than the previous year: although he had seven goals, his overall point production was down, with only 18 in 36 regular-season games.

Additionally, some defensive struggles pushed his plus–minus down to −7.

Normally, he would have joined the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate, for the remainder of their 2019–20 season, but by the time he left Wisconsin, the COVID-19 pandemic had already forced the suspension of both the NHL and AHL seasons.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he did not join the team until the 2020–21 season.

As a rookie playing alongside Jacob Trouba, Miller established himself as a part of the Rangers' young core, consistently seeing over 20 minutes of ice time per game and earning NHL All-Rookie Team honors at the end of the season.

On March 16, 2020, Miller chose to end his college career after only two seasons by signing an entry-level contract with the Rangers.

In 62 NCAA appearances, he had a total of 40 points.

Miller's contract with the Rangers did not begin until the 2020–21 season.

These pandemic disruptions left it unclear if Miller, who was already joining an unusually young defensive corps, would begin the 2020–21 season with the Rangers, or if he would need an extra year of development in Hartford.

Although Rangers coach David Quinn had previously announced that Tony DeAngelo would be paired with Jacob Trouba, New York's highest-paid defenseman, Miller impressed enough in training camp that, in addition to making the Rangers' opening-night roster for the 2020–21 season, he was promoted to Trouba's pair.

His first NHL point came in his fourth game, an assist in a 4–3 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 22, 2021.

His first goal came four days later, when he pushed one past Linus Ullmark in a 3–2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Playing on the second defensive pair with Trouba, Miller quickly became a staple in the Rangers roster, logging over 20 minutes of ice time per game and contributing on both the power play and penalty kill units.