Miller taking center approach to defense

Every Thursday, NHL.com will look ahead to the 2018 NHL Draft with an in-depth profile on one of its top prospects.
Defenseman K'Andre Miller of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program under-18 team likes to consider himself a fourth forward when play shifts to the offensive end.

Miller (6-foot-3, 206 pounds) started playing defense three seasons ago when his coach at Minnetonka (Minn.) High School suggested he give it a try. As it turns out, the move was a positive one.
"He was looking for an extra [defenseman] to build a team and wanted to know if I wanted to try it for a few games and I ended up liking it a lot, was able to get up in the rush," Miller said. "When I go into the corners I usually think of myself as a center, just trying to be gritty in the corners. I'm trying to replicate my game from center to defense. I look at myself as the fourth forward by jumping into the play."
Seth Appert, the first-year coach of the NTDP U-18 team, has liked what he's seen from Miller, who has 14 points (five goals, nine assists), a plus-3 rating and 55 shots on goal 29 games.
He also had one assist and one shot on goal for Team Chris Chelios in a 6-5 loss against Team Brian Leetch at the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Sept. 21.
"It's unique in that [Miller] has the skill set to be an elite defenseman," Appert said. "He's long, rangy, he's got a good defensive stick and he can really skate. Right off the bat when you see a guy like that you think he would be a good power center. But he also has a real special skill set that translates to defense."

Miller is a projected second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center in Dallas on June 22-23. The left-handed shot is a B rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's November players to watch list.
"He's still learning the finer nuances of the position," Appert said. "I think one thing he's become really adept at is defensive gapping and playing a new style of NHL defense where players are not defending while skating backwards all the time, like 15 years ago. It's all about skating forward and angling, so they're gapping and swinging in with good sticks and good angles to shut plays down instead of just backing off and letting the rush come to them."
Despite being a Minnesota native, Miller is committed to the University of Wisconsin next season.
"Wisconsin was the better fit for me," he said. "There are amazing coaches with Tony Granato and associate coach] Mark Osiecki. Granato's experience in the NHL and in college made the decision a no-brainer for me."
Miller began skating with his uncle when he was 2 years old, and began playing hockey two years later. He and his family moved from Hopkins, Minnesota, to Minnetonka when he was in eighth grade and he made the varsity high school team as a freshman the next season.
"It was tough playing varsity as a freshman; some of those guys had close to 30-40 pounds on me so they really pushed me and helped me become the player I am today," Miller said.
***[\[RELATED: 2018 Draft diary: Joseph Veleno\]*
He may be building a resume as a defenseman, but Miller grew up a fan of Minnesota Wild center Mikko Koivu.
"On my 10th birthday I went to Dallas to watch the Stars play the Wild and Mikko noticed me in the stands because I was wearing a Finland ice hockey jersey," he said.
Koivu, 34 and in his 13th NHL season, all with the Wild, is from Turku, Finland.
"Mikko motioned that he wanted to give me a stick so he got the trainer and then kind of waved for me to come down there [by the player's bench] and he gave me the stick," Miller said. "That was a great experience to meet him, and get a stick, an experience I'll never forget."