The New Jersey Devils acquired 30-year-old defenseman Colin Miller from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2025. The trade happened on the first day of free agency and checks off a box for New Jersey. He has one year left on his contract at a $1.85 million cap hit.
With the losses of veteran defensemen Damon Severson and Ryan Graves, Miller fills a hole on the backend. The Devils are expected to lean on young defensemen Luke Hughes, Kevin Bahl, and potentially Simon Nemec. However, a veteran presence and a defensive-minded defenseman is a much-needed asset on the roster.
Defense First
The Devils have talented defenders who have incredible offensive abilities in Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes. Furthermore, John Marino and Kevin Bahl are defensemen who can skate well and walk the blue line in the offensive zone. Miller will be a more defensive defenseman similar to Jonas Siegenthaler. He is also a right-shot defenseman, with a stature of 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds.
Miller has 466 NHL games under his belt and has 35 goals and 122 assists. In his most recent season with the Stars, he had 70 blocked shots and 108 hits, which was good enough for fifth on the team in both categories. In addition, he played 79 games and averaged 16:46 a game. Since his primary ability is defense, his points were low with six goals and 15 assists in the 2022-23 season.
Miller will likely slot into a third-pairing role and could be used on the penalty kill for New Jersey. For a fifth-round pick in 2025, this is an excellent addition that will fill a need for the Devils going into 2023-24.
Veteran Experience
Miller will begin his ninth season in the NHL with the Devils. He previously played for the Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights, and Stars. Furthermore, he played in 40 career playoff games and went to the Stanley Cup Final with the Golden Knights in the 2017-18 season. With the Golden Knights, Miller had his highest-scoring season with 10 goals and 31 assists. He also spent time on the power play and scored five goals and 12 assists.
Miller was teammates with Erik Haula on the Golden Knights where they lost in the Stanley Cup Final. In Dallas, he played with Ryan Suter and the pair allowed only 0.3 expected goals against, third-best on the team.
The added experience will be helpful to have for young defensemen who will need to learn the pace and physicality of the league. The Devils lost a combined 949 games of experience in Severson and Graves. The addition of Miller will allow for the defense to have a veteran presence that will bring experience and wisdom to the youth.
Potential Defensive Lines
The addition of Miller allows the Devils to relieve the pressure on Hughes, Bahl, and Nemec. Relying on three young defenders for 82 games and a potential playoff run could backfire on the team. They also have Brendan Smith signed for another year at $1.1 million. Smith played 60 games for New Jersey in the regular season and three games in the playoffs.
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Including the new addition of Miller and Bahl, who was tendered a qualifying offer, the potential defensive pairings could be similar to this:
Pairing 1: Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Pairing 2: Hughes – Marino
Pairing 3: Bahl – Miller
Extra defenseman: Nemec and Smith
The Devils have options with their pairings and where extra defensemen can slot in. Lindy Ruff has also been keen on running with seven defensemen for some games during the season. Unfortunately, injuries are inevitable in the league and New Jersey will now have depth with Miller. Lastly, the addition will allow for the team to have an excellent balance of right-handed and left-handed defensemen.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald will likely be done adding to his defensive depth after this trade. Now, all eyes will be on training camp to see if Nemec will make the opening night roster in October.
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