In this series we build the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster one by one leading up to the season opener on October 3.
RHD, Colin Miller
26 yrs. old
6'1" 196 lbs.
2012, 5th-round pick (151st-overall, LAK)
Career Stats: 250 games | 22 goals | 77 assists | 99 points | -4
Where Colin Miller ultimately ends up in the lineup for the Buffalo Sabres is dependent upon a number of things, including the status of fellow right-handed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. With plenty roster decisions up in the air right now, Miller should get the opportunity to skate next to top defenseman Rasmus Dahlin at training camp, which begins today, before eventually settling into his role on the Sabres.
Miller started last season on the top-pairing in Vegas while Golden Knights d-anchor Nate Schmidt served his 20-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policies. He struggled next to Schmidt's top-pairing partner, Brayden McNabb, while playing against the league's best (0 goals, 6 assists, minus-4 rating) during that time and fell down the depth chart and back into his usual third-pairing role when Schmidt returned. Although Dahlin and McNabb are totally different players in style and caliber, it would be tough to see Miller in a top-pairing role as his offensive-minded game and struggles defensively against the league's best players may not translate well. However, new head coach Ralph Krueger is looking for chemistry up and down the lineup and if it works, he'll go with it.
One place where Miller's skills may translate very well is on the powerplay. He has a booming shot and was a key cog on the Golden Knights' PP registering a team second-best 30 points in his two seasons with Vegas. Should Krueger and his coaches go with two defensemen on the first powerplay unit, Dahlin and Miller could very well be at the point joining Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart on that unit.
The 26 yr. old Miller is entering his fourth NHL season after being selected fifth-overall by the LA Kings in the 2012 draft. He had a banner 2014-15 season in the AHL with the Manchester Monarchs (now the Ontario Reign) with 19 goals and 33 assists in 70 games and was a 2015 Second-team All-Star game. He won the fastest skater at the Skills Competition that year while also setting a record for the hardest shot (105.5 mph.) In June, 2015 he was traded to the Boston Bruins where he played two seasons before Vegas took him in the 2017 Expansion Draft.
Miller was the second of three right-handed defensemen acquired by Sabres general manager Jason Botterill in a seven-month span (Brandon Montour, Henri Jokiharju) leading to heavy speculation that Ristolainen is on the trading block. Nothing has happened on the trade-front yet so Buffalo heads into camp with three healthy RHD's--Ristolainen, Miller and Montour--as locks for roster spots. Another righty, Zach Bogosian, will be close to a return from hip surgery come opening night and the 20 yr. old Jokiharju may make some noise at camp as well. In the shadows is RHD, Casey Nelson who will probably carve out a role for himself as a reserve d-man for the Sabres.
Although Krueger may be able to stick to a righty/lefty lineup initially, as laid out in this series, one would also assume that he will go with the six best players to for his defense, especially when Bogosian returns. How that all plays out is up in the air with Dahlin on the top pair as the only given. As for Miller, a third-pairing role with ample powerplay time to replicate what he successfully did with Vegas should make the Sabres blueline that much better.
Building the 2019-20 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Jack Eichel/ RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jimmy Vesey / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Marcus Johansson
LW, Victor Olofsson / C, Evan Rodrigues / RW, Conor Sheary
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Brandon Montour
LHD, Jake McCabe / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Colin Miller
G, Carter Hutton
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