The Carolina Hurricanes made one of the biggest splashes of the day, trading a conditional first-round pick, a second-round pick and rookie defenseman Scott Morrow to the New York Rangers in exchange for defenseman K'Andre Miller.
(The trade and deal for Miller was first reported by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and the details of the return to the Rangers was first reported by New York Post's Larry Brooks.)
The deal is also a sign-and-trade as Miller, a pending RFA, comes over fresh off of signing an eight-year, $60 million extension.
"K'Andre is a defenseman who we feel is a very strong fit for the way we play," said Carolina GM Eric Tulsky. "He is just approaching his prime and we are confident that he will excel in a Hurricanes sweater.”
Miller, 25, is a towering defenseman, standing at 6-foot-5, who's also one of the better skaters in the league.
The blueliner has a strong first touch and great transitional skills, able to jump into plays and lead and facilitate the rush, things the Hurricanes really emphasize in their system.
"He's a really powerful skater who can close out really effectively and take away time and space and the aggressive way we play is going to suit him very well," Tulsky said. "He's also very strong in front of the net, defending in front of the net, which is always helpful and important and something we can always get better at. I think his skating and recovery speed is going to be really effective for us. We want guys to get up the ice, but they need to be able to get back too. His natural ability and his skating are going to make him really effective for us."
Miller's game looks like it will perfectly fit and complement Carolina's style, now the only question is if he can elevate that game.
A few seasons prior, Miller looked to be on a meteoric rise as a true top-end, two-way defender.
However, the 25 year old has struggled a bit more in the past two seasons, especially when it came to his rush defense and entry denials.
He has a great stick and long reach, so it's baffling that those were the things he struggled with in New York. He had really good penalty kill numbers, but 5v5 wasn't always pretty.
Perhaps part of those struggles can also be attributed to the revolving door of coaches that the Rangers have brought in. Miller hasn't had any sort of stability in New York in that regard, so perhaps an established team and culture like Carolina's can bring out his best.
Miller has a lot of raw potential with his size and the flashes of brilliance he's shown, so the Canes are willing to take a gamble on that upside in their system.
And hey, the last time the Hurricanes traded a first-round pick to New York for a left-handed defenseman, it worked out pretty well (looking at you Brady Skjei).
Going the other way to New York is a conditional 2026 first (top-10 protected and then the better between Dallas and Carolina's), a 2026 second and Scott Morrow.
Morrow, 22, showed a lot of potential, but it seemed clear to me that he wasn't going to cut it in Carolina's system.
An offensive defenseman, Morrow has good instincts, but he struggled with the speed of the NHL and his skating leaves much to be desired.
He's the type of player who struggles to recover if he makes a mistake and his gap control was rather poor too.
Obviously he's only 22 and could still develop into a really good NHL player, he was named to the AHL's Top Prospect Team this season and put up consistent points in both the NHL and AHL during the regular season.
But the fact of the matter is that the Canes are a better team today with Miller than with Morrow.
"We'd been talking to [the New York Rangers] about him for a while," Tulsky said. "They were obviously looking at other players in free agency and needed to clear the cap space and also a roster spot. So we've been talking about what a deal could look like. Been working on it for a while. It was important to us to find a way to do it without giving up any major pieces off of our roster. Obviously Morrow was close, but he wasn't quite there for us last year at least. It's a big price to pay but we think he's a great fit for our system."
'Our Goal Is To Keep Getting Better And Raising The Bar': Eric Tulsky On Opening Day Of Free AgencyThe Carolina Hurricanes were certainly active at the opening of free agency, not only acquiring a bit of depth, but also landing a potentially big piece of the team's blueline.
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