In case you've forgotten, the Bruins' first move in free agency this offseason was one that fans didn't really expect to be a priority: It was to re-sign Kevan Miller to a one-year deal with a $1.25 million cap hit.
Prior to that, the now-33-year-old defenseman's future seemed highly uncertain. Miller hasn't played since April 2019, when he suffered a broken kneecap. He tried to get back in time to contribute to the Bruins' 2019 playoff run, only to re-break the kneecap while rehabbing.
The road didn't get a whole lot smoother after that, as he suffered several more setbacks during his recovery, the most recent of which forced him to undergo another surgery -- his fourth total -- in March of this year and ended any chance he had of playing even after the NHL's summer restart.
When the Bruins re-signed Miller in early October, there was still some uncertainty about when exactly he would actually be able to play. It appears we now have an answer, and it's an encouraging one.
The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa reports that Miller told him he'll be back in Boston on Dec. 26 and will be "ready for Game 1, whenever that is."
The NHL is currently targeting a Jan. 13 start date.
It remains to be seen what Miller will be able to contribute early on, but it does at least give the Bruins some depth and a veteran presence on the blue line as they try to find their way in a post-Torey Krug and potentially post-Zdeno Chara world.
While Miller is a right shot, he has also played on the left side, where the Bruins are particularly thin right now, in the past.
As of now, Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo are the three "sure things" on the Bruins blue line, with Miller joining the likes of John Moore, Connor Clifton, Jeremy Lauzon, Jakub Zboril, Urho Vaakanainen and Steven Kampfer in the battle to fill the remaining spots.