It is time to move K’Andre Miller to the top pair

With Ryan Lindgren hopefully returning tonight in Detroit, the Rangers are as close to fully healthy as they have been all season. Given they’ve been fully healthy for about 4 shifts this year, that’s a monumental achievement. That means Gerard Gallant has a chance to best optimize his lineup. The focus has been on forwards, for good reason. However now is the time to make the long awaited defense change, and it is time to move K’Andre Miller to the top pair.

Don’t misunderstand, this isn’t about Lindgren. It’s clear the Rangers miss him, and he’s an important piece to the Rangers. There’s a reason why the Rangers looked shaky without him. But simply put, K’Andre Miller has surpassed Ryan Lindgren as the best LD on the team. There’s certainly nuance to the discussion, but it’s hard to argue with the total package that is Miller versus the relatively one-dimensional play that Lindgren brings to the lineup.

Miller to the top pair optimizes the Rangers defense

Moving Miller to the top pair is as simple as giving your best players more minutes. Miller’s very unique skill set would likely give Fox even more room to work at even strength, as he’d have another player with good puck skills on the same pair without losing any of the defensive capabilities that Lindgren brings to the lineup.

There is also a strong argument that Miller is actually better defensively than Lindgren. Again given the skill sets and what we’ve seen on the ice, that checks out. It’s a bit too early to rely on 2022-2023 RAPM charts to back this argument up, so we are relying on Miller’s growth and what we think we’ve been seeing. Three year RAPM charts also aren’t the best tool for Miller since they won’t highlight the growth in the 2022 calendar year.

There are additional benefits of sending Miller to the top pair, and they all have to do with Lindgren’s relatively one-dimensional aspect to his game. Players like Lindgren are a necessity for teams, especially given Lindgren’s proven ability to be a net-positive on the ice. So how do you get the most out of a net-positive, defense-first player? Pair him with a player that has historically been better with defense-first players.

That player is Jacob Trouba.

Trouba has struggled mightily to start the season. He’s also been hurt for the better part of two weeks. He hasn’t practiced, and is gutting through the games. But it’s impacting his play on the ice. Assuming the injury heals, the Rangers will still need to get the most out of Trouba.

Trouba has historically been at his best when he has a defense-first partner, most notably Josh Morrissey when he was in Winnipeg. He hasn’t had that in New York, and while he and Miller are generally fine, there’s room to improve. With Miller to the top pair, Lindgren would be with Trouba, hopefully bringing out the best of him and making him somewhat worth the $8 million price tag.

Top guys still get the most ice time

One of the potential concerns of moving Miller to the top pair is the ice time distribution. We would certainly see a bit of a shift at 5v5, but that’s about it. Maybe Miller would get an additional shift, but both would still be counted on for the penalty kill, thus the overall ice time would likely stay the same.

Perhaps an unintended benefit of this would be a stronger penalty kill, an area in which the Rangers have struggled.

The penalty kill is bleeding shots, most notably from the right side. Given what we’ve said about Adam Fox’s limited effectiveness on the PK and the Trouba injury, this makes sense. Miller would, in theory, be paired with Fox, and make that pair stronger overall, with Miller covering for Fox when he wants to try to force a play.

Lindgren would give Trouba a bit more of a security blanket, and hopefully that 26% above league average in xG allowed would drop.

Moving Miller to the top pair isn’t a foregone conclusion, but it’s something that should happen. Hopefully it happens soon.