At 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, Miller uses his skating and long reach with his stick to break up plays defensively and quickly start the transition to offense. With Miller on the ice during 5-on-5 play in the playoffs, the Hurricanes have outscored opponents 10-1. His plus-58 shot differential at 5-on-5 is good for fifth in the NHL among defensemen.
“I like to think I am playing pretty good, but he’s unbelievable,” said Walker, who is third in the NHL among defensemen with a plus-60 shot differential 5-on-5. “I think he’s on another level right now. Just his abilities, his stick, his skating, his physicality, the plays he makes every night has made it easy on me, and I’m just trying to help him out wherever I can.”
Miller attributed his improvement this season to an increase in confidence and being, “a little less crowded in the head.”
“In New York I found, I don’t know, days were hard some days,” he said. “Not that there aren’t hard days here, but I think there’s just a little bit easier style of living, which makes my life a little bit easier, a little less mainstream and, I guess, out of the bright lights.
“So, I think that’s been a plus for me, getting to settle down and kind of take things slow here.”
It’s worked out pretty much how the Hurricanes envisioned when they acquired Miller from the Rangers in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 or 2027 NHL Draft and defenseman Scott Morrow. Miller was one of two key additions the Hurricanes made last offseason, along with forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who signed a six-year, $51 million contract as an unrestricted free agent, in hope they would help them get over the hump in the conference final and reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since they won the Cup in 2006.
They remembered Miller well from when they lost to the Rangers in six games in the second round of the 2024 playoffs and jumped at the chance to trade for him and sign him to a long-term contract. Miller’s play in the playoffs has only reinforced their belief in him.
“That’s what we saw when we played against them, especially the one playoff series,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He’s a big guy that can skate, move the puck and has the range. It’s pretty a good asset to have there and he’s delivered everything that we would hope.”
Miller and the Hurricanes understand that the next round, whichever team they face, will be their toughest challenge to date. Miller knows from experience, after the Rangers lost 3-0 to the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the 2024 conference final on their way to losing that series in six games, that being ready from the start, whenever that series begins, is essential.
“I think the quicker you can get to your game in these playoffs is a huge benefit,” he said. “We had a lot of success in these last two series in controlling and dictating how we wanted to play and how the game was kind of going.
“And that’s where we’re our best and found a lot of success.”