On the night of June 22, 2018, K’Andre Miller mounted the podium at American Airlines Arena in Dallas after having been selected 22nd overall in the first round by the Rangers and at age 18 talked about how he hoped to be an influence off the ice as well as on it.
Six years later, on the night of June 28, 2024, E.J. Emery mounted the podium at the Sphere in Las Vegas after having been selected 30th overall in the first round by the Rangers and at age 18 said that he considered Miller a role model.
“That’s awesome,” Miller told The Post following Thursday’s first day on-ice workout conducted with November-type pace. “We talked on the phone a little bit shortly after the draft and kept in touch this summer. So it was good. He’s a really good kid.”
Emery, a 6-foot-3 righty defenseman out of the U.S. National Development Program, is a freshman at North Dakota, where he will become the school’s first black player in 30 years, since Akil Adams skated with the squad from 1992 through 1994.
“Obviously I was in that same position a couple of years ago and I know I had guys I was looking up to and tried to emulate,” Miller said. “Honestly, to myself, that was me, going to the rink at a young age trying to find guys, as I said, you look up to. You look up to guys you want to be like. To a degree, that’s everybody at that age.
“So I think having a circle around you that’s going to push you and hold you accountable to be the best version of yourself is really how you make it here. It’s just so important to have that support system to keep you on track.”
Miller, 24, is entering his fifth year in the league. He’s been on the ice with the Blueshirts since prospect camp in 2018. But the 6-5, 215-pounder showed up with a dramatically different look this time with his brown hair frosted blonde in an homage to Odell Beckham Jr.
“I haven’t come up with a name yet but it is fully inspired by Odell Beckham Jr. when he was with the Giants,” said Miller, who was an outstanding wide receiver and cornerback for Minnetonka HS. “He’s a guy I looked up to when I was still playing football.
“I loved his game and loved what he brought to the field.”
The change, Miller said, came two weeks ago. Of the folks who matter most, “Everyone is good with it … now.”
One of the most intriguing parts of last season — and perhaps the best reason to be encouraged entering this Last Dance Last Chance season — is that the Rangers finished with the best record in the NHL despite the fact that very few Blueshirts had career seasons. In fact, other than the Vincent Trocheck line that also featured Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere, no one else did. There is room to grow for just about everybody on the ice.
That surely includes Miller, who had his moments but never quite was able to gain traction on the season in which he recorded 30 points (8-22) after posting 43 (9-34) in 2022-23. His instincts and reads seemed a bit off. The defenseman was on for 56 goals for and 68 goals against after going 67 for and 66 against in 2022-23.
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Miller played most of the season with usual partner Jacob Trouba but also was paired late in the season and for much of the playoffs with Braden Schneider. Miller is projected to form a shutdown pair with Schneider but that is certainly not etched in granite.
“I was pretty mindful of the season I had and personally wasn’t too happy or too thrilled with what I was able to accomplish or do last year,” Miller said. “I thought I left a couple of pages empty and I felt I could have done a little more for my team and my teammates and I took that upon myself this summer to go back to the drawing room, look in the mirror and start from there.
“It’s you vs. you to a degree so I think you really have to come with that and understand if you want to get to that next level you have to put in the time and work. Put your head down and keep working.”
That has never been an issue with Miller and it certainly was not an issue with the Rangers last season. And again, Thursday’s practice that featured the varsity could have come out of November. If anyone had forgotten how head coach Peter Laviolette and his staff conduct practices, this was an instant reminder.
“Personally I took a little time off away from the rink and away from hockey at the start of the summer,” Miller said. “It’s the time of the year where you let your body reset and heal and recover from a long season.
“Obviously playing a lot of minutes and that number of games on our schedule to close out the year was a challenge. But it was fun and obviously this group wants to get back there.
“We’re really hungry to do that.”
