Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller was hoping to stay healthy this year after missing all of last season while recovering from multiple knee surgeries.
Things started well, with Miller playing the first 15 games of this season and looking good doing it. But then he suffered a setback with the knee that forced him to miss nearly two months.
The 33-year-old finally returned on April 6, but played just four games before being sidelined again. The nature of his latest injury was a mystery. Coach Bruce Cassidy said he “woke up with something” that wasn’t related to the knee, and that was pretty much all anyone knew.
Until now. In an appearance on former NHL player John Scott’s Dropping the Gloves podcast, Miller shared the details of his latest injury, and it doesn’t sound pleasant.
“I got an infection on my foot from my skate,” Miller said. “Skate was rubbing on it and it turned into cellulitis. Next thing you know I was in the hospital for a couple days, on the shelf. Eventually, I’m just going to go buy a lotto ticket because at some point things will turn, and it won’t be an issue anymore.”
Miller traveled with the Bruins on their current road trip and practiced Wednesday. He could return to the lineup as early as Thursday night.
“I’m healthy again and ready to play, thankfully,” Miller told Scott.
No stranger to injuries over the years, Miller also told Scott that this one was “by far” the most embarrassing.
Miller had played more than 20 minutes per night in each of his four games before this infection, and could see a workload close to that upon his return as well. He will likely slot in on the second pairing next to trade deadline acquisition Mike Reilly, eventually sliding back to the third pairing once Brandon Carlo returns.
Miller was not yet playing on back-to-back days, though, as the Bruins continue to load manage his knee. The Bruins have three back-to-backs remaining in the regular season, so it will be interesting to see if and when Miller is able to handle that.
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