K'Andre Miller Placed on IR with Upper Body Injury

Defenseman K’Andre Miller has been placed on injured reserve after sustaining an upper-body injury during Wednesday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. After playing one of his best games of the season, generating a fair amount of offense and stepping up defensively with two blocks, one hit, and two takeaways, he did not return for the third period following a collision with forward Jordan Greenway.

His IR status indicates that he will not return for at least seven days, and reports say he will not travel with the team on their upcoming road trip across the Central Division.

Coach Peter Laviolette praised Miller’s recent play, saying in his postgame on Wednesday, “I thought he’s been good lately. Take out last game [against Chicago], everybody [was] just off the mark last game. Prior to that, I thought he was real strong, as well. He was good tonight.”

In the wake of the Jacob Trouba trade, there is a changing of the guard going on in the defensive core. Adam Fox still commands the blue line as the Rangers’ top defender, but Miller has seemingly stepped up since his mentor’s departure. He led the charge during Sunday’s attempted comeback against the Seattle Kraken, logging a goal and an assist. It’s unfortunate timing for him to be sidelined.

With Miller out, AHL call-up Connor Mackey has taken his place on the second defensive pair alongside Braden Schneider.

Mackey, known for his physicality, is not a long term solution for replacing Miller’s playmaking. Hopefully Miller’s injury is not serious enough to necessitate more than a week off, otherwise the Blueshirts may have to start weighing their options.