One-on-one with K’Andre Miller on his Year 3 progress and his long-term Rangers role

Evaluating players off the preseason is a fool’s work. (Is that a setup for a punch line, or what? I’ll be here all week.) But seriously, folks, different players are attempting to accomplish different things during camp and the exhibition season, the way pitchers may work on developing another pitch during spring training to their statistical detriment.

Be that as it may, K’Andre Miller looked as if he were on the verge of breaking out as Paul Coffey II, a rushing defenseman who could lead the attack and go end-to-end whenever that suited his fancy.

It hasn’t worked out that way yet.

“I feel I’m still building off last year and the kind of playoffs I had,” Miller told The Post following Monday’s practice. “I want to build on that foundation.

“I want to be a steady, reliable defenseman who recognizes offensive chances when they come and can take advantage of them. I’d like to use my offensive instincts a little better.

K’Andre Miller is still working to harness his offensive instincts and remain a reliable defenseman. “I want to be able to join the rush and act as a fourth forward,” he said.USA TODAY Sports

“I want to be able to join the rush and act as a fourth forward,” added No. 79, who made the transition to defense from forward at age 16. “As for end-to-end rushes, that’s not something that’s on my mind. That’s a hockey play. That’s not something I have as an objective when I’m on. If the opportunity presents itself within the game, then OK, but I don’t go onto the ice thinking about going end-to-end.”

Miller has fit in so seamlessly from the start of his career it is easy to forget that the 6-foot-5, 210-pounder is only 22 years old and in his third NHL season. Much like Adam Fox, we have been spoiled by how good — and maybe even more than that, how poised — he seemed from the start. Miller has been a top-four defenseman since the fourth game of his rookie season while paired almost exclusively with Jacob Trouba.

The trajectory for young players, maybe even more so for young defensemen, isn’t often represented by an upward-pointing arrow. There are steps back, accommodations to be made, experience to be gained. There are steps sideways.

Miller has not been at his eye-catching best thus far. There have been some boo-boos when it comes to decisions with the puck and defending the front of the net — universal to every Rangers defenseman, by the way — but Miller is hardly the root cause of the team’s uneven 13-game getaway.

Miller is logging almost 20 minutes per game, tops on Rangers in even-strength situations.AP

“I’m playing a lot of minutes, so I’m managing that,” said the Saint Paul, Minn., native, who is averaging a team-high 19:55 per at even strength, up from last season’s 18:43. “That’s just being prepared to go out and do the job every night facing one of the other team’s top two lines.

“The objective isn’t to be flashy. It’s to defend well and shut down quality chances. That’s what I think my role is.”

What a difference a year makes

Since the current playoff format was adopted in 2013-14, there has only been one year in which fewer than five holdovers qualified for the postseason in the Eastern Conference. That would have been 2017, when only three of the conference’s 2016 participants made it to the dance.

(We are excluding the 2020 tournament, in which 12 teams per conference were invited to compete under the COVID bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton. So that knocks out the carryovers from 2019 to 2020 and from 2020 to 2021.)

In 2017, the Rangers, Capitals and Penguins kept their seats, and the Panthers, Lightning, Flyers, Islanders and Red Wings were replaced by the Maple Leafs, Bruins, Blue Jackets, Senators and Canadiens.

The Rangers were the only newcomer in last year’s Eastern Conference playoffs, replacing an Islanders team that had made the conference finals the prior season.
Getty ImagesGetty Images

Last year, there were seven repeaters, with the Rangers knocking out the Islanders the only change in the program.

But as of Monday morning, ranking teams by winning percentages — which in NHL parlance includes points gained by losing (try to explain that to the uninitiated) — instead of points, there was just a 50 percent rate of return.

The Bruins, ‘Canes, Lightning and Maple Leafs held playoff positions while the Blueshirts, Penguins, Caps and Panthers were on the outside, pressing their noses against the window while looking in at the Devils, Flyers, Islanders and Red Wings.

Yes, it is still somewhat early, and yes, there is time for clubs who have had disappointing first months to turn this around. But the Devils, Flyers, Islanders, Red Wings are markedly improved. So are the Sabres, who were tied with the Islanders, but had one fewer regulation win.

These would-be party-crashers are building their respective seasons and gaining more confidence with each victory. You don’t think the 9-3-0 Devils are on a brick-by-brick high coming off their three-game sweep through western Canada in which the Canucks, Oilers and Flames went down one after another? You don’t think the Red Wings are feeling it after knocking off the Rangers on Sunday?

The Red Wings, fresh off beating the Rangers on Sunday, are firmly in the early playoff hunt.Corey Sipkin

The competition is more stringent this time around. This is no small consideration. The threat these teams pose to a Rangers return to the playoffs is imminent. And do we know if the legacy teams in Pittsburgh and Washington have finally reached the end of the line? The answer to that is: no.

Bad timing

Here’s what is most troublesome about the Rangers’ power play, which is the club’s signature unit. Three times this season, the Blueshirts have faced teams that led the league in penalty killing.

The Rangers’ power play has been shut down on three occasions when facing the league’s top-ranked penalty-killing unit.Robert Sabo

San Jose came into the Garden on Oct 20 ranked No. 1, having gone 15-for-15 on the kill. The Blueshirts went to UBS on Oct. 26, when the Islanders were ranked No. 1, having killed 22 of 22. And then when Boston visited New York on Nov. 3, the Bruins ranked first, having allowed only two power-play goals while short 37 times.

Facing those three teams and those three elevated challenges, the Rangers went a combined 0-for-10.