Kevan Miller never had anything given to him in hockey. He wasn’t drafted, but he proved himself enough in four years at the University of Vermont that the Bruins decided to sign him to an amateur tryout contract after his senior season at age 23, well after most future NHLers have turned pro.
It took him another two-plus seasons with AHL Providence before he finally broke through at the NHL level, at an age when most NHLers are already in their primes.
Now 33 years old and eight years into his NHL career, Miller appreciates the game more than ever. That’s the kind of thing that can happen when you almost lose it for good.
Miller broke his right kneecap in April 2019, then re-broke it while trying to get back in time to contribute to the Bruins’ 2019 playoff run. He suffered several more setbacks from there, ultimately undergoing four procedures all together and missing the entire 2019-20 season as a result.
But now, after signing a one-year deal to remain in Boston, he’s back on the ice with his teammates in training camp, feeling good, and preparing to be in the Bruins’ lineup on opening night this Thursday. And he’s not taking any of it for granted.
“If anything for me, I think I’m just in a different position than I was before the injury. Maybe personally, first, sometimes you take things for granted,” Miller said Sunday. “Playing in the NHL, you take it for granted. And that’s something that I’m not gonna take for granted anymore.
“Every day, every shift, every practice, every time I get to put my skates on and skate with the guys, I have a different appreciation for the game now. … Every day is a gift to be out there playing. So if anything, I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me, that maybe the pressure’s off a little bit and I’m just enjoying every second of it.”
Miller still has to do some extra work before and after practice to make sure he continues to take care of his knee, but he said he had already cleared all the mental hurdles he needed to in order to trust his knee holding up, as he had been skating for a while before arriving at training camp last week.
His return and ability to play right out of the gate could prove crucial for the Bruins, who saw Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug depart in free agency, leaving behind a significant void not just in terms of minutes, but also in terms of veteran leadership on the blue line.
Coach Bruce Cassidy has said that Miller has the inside track to start on the right side of the third pairing over Connor Clifton. He has mostly been paired with rookie Jakub Zboril in camp, and it’s looking more and more likely that those two will start the season together.
Cassidy has tasked Miller with being a leader at least on his pair, if not on the defense corps as a whole, and to help bring Zboril along. It’s a veteran-youth dynamic Cassidy has employed several times in the past with a good deal of success, and one Miller has done before as well, specifically with Matt Grzelcyk when he first broke into the league.
Miller knows he has to make sure his own game is up to snuff first, but he gladly embraces the mentorship role as well, even lightheartedly acknowledging that he is now “the old guy” on defense.
“It’s something that I’ve done in the past, or they’ve asked of me in the past,” Miller said. “I think that’s not just me, it’s any older guy on the team. That’s part of your responsibility. Yeah, I do have to make sure that my game’s going, but it’s something that even helps me get ready more quickly.
“It’s something that I have no problem taking on, and I appreciate that the coaching staff or players put their trust in me to do. I think it’s just a natural progression of the job that you get as you get older, and I’m the old guy on D now.”