Colin Miller (USA Today Sports)
Colin Miller, the man with the booming slap shot.
Signed to an extension through the 2021-22 season, Colin Miller should be a fixture on the Golden Knights’ blue line for years to come, making up a solid four-man defensive core alongside Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore, and Brayden McNabb. General Manager, George McPhee wasted no time locking down the four defensemen for the foreseeable future, setting Vegas up for success for the next three seasons.
Colin Miller is one of the sixteen original Golden Knights left on the current roster. Taken from the Boston Bruins, the 26-year-old defenseman is in his fourth NHL season (2nd with Vegas). Unlike the subject of our last profile, Deryk Engelland, Miller had a fairly straight shot to the NHL. A native of Sault Ste Marie, Miller spent three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, playing for his hometown Greyhounds. In 2012 Miller was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fifth round, the 151st overall pick. Notable players in the top 32 from that draft include Morgan Rielly (TOR), Tom Wilson (WSH), Tomas Hertl (SJS), Malcolm Subban (BOS-VGK), and Oscar Dansk (CBJ-VGK). Ironically, both Subban and Dansk are now in the Golden Knights’ organization, along with Miller. Both goaltenders were picked ahead of Miller, but Miller arguably is the most important player for the Vegas Golden Knights at this point in time.
Miller with the Bruins (USA Today Sports)
Upon being drafted by the Kings, Miller went on to have his best season in the OHL, posting 20 goals and 35 assists for 55 points in 54 games, while also registering a +13. Following his draft year, Miller went pro, playing the next two seasons with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, the Kings’ minor league club. Following a bit of an adjustment period in 2013-14, Miller produced points at an incredible rate during the following 2014-15 season. Out of all blue liners, Miller trailed only Chris Wideman, formerly of the Ottawa Senators, with 52 points (19 goals, 33 assists). His 52 points were the second-most for all defensemen and placed him 34th overall in the league, at just 22 years old. Miller caught the eye of the Boston Bruins and was acquired via trade on June 26, 2015, in a return package (with San Jose Sharks starting goaltender Martin Jones and a first-round pick) for power forward, Milan Lucic.
Miller with the Bruins (USA Today Sports)
Miller bounced between Boston and Providence (AHL) in his first season with the Bruins organization, playing 42 games at the NHL level and 20 games in the Providence. His first NHL point came in his third game with the Bruins and he scored his first goal in just his 10th NHL contest. By game 18, Miller had his first multi-point game, showing off his offensive upside on the back end for the Bruins. He finished his first NHL campaign with 16 points (3 goals, 13 assists) in 42 games. Since 2016, there has been no looking back for Colin Miller. He signed a new contract with the Bruins and has remained in the NHL over the past three seasons, the last two coming with the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas would eventually ink him to a long extension after their inaugural season
Heading into the 2017 Expansion Draft, speculation was wide-spread regarding the picks McPhee would make from each club. There was a ton of movement in the days leading up to the expansion draft, with McPhee working deals for draft picks and additional players, in return for not drafting players left unprotected, at the request of multiple existing teams. Regarding Boston’s group of unprotected players, the jury was out on who Vegas would select. Colin Miller was left unprotected, essentially because Boston favored fellow defenseman, Kevan Miller, more at the time. When the unprotected lists were released, Colin Miller was one of two names expected to come up for Vegas, along with Adam McQuaid. Many Boston and national publications floated the idea of McQuaid due to his size and experience, but Vegas went with the upside, taking the younger, flashier defenseman in Miller.
Upon his arrival in Vegas, Miller endeared himself to the fans with his humongous slap shot, smooth skating, and offensive upside. It also didn’t hurt that Miller was a good-looking 25-year-old brought into the mix, helping him quickly secure a die-hard contingent of female fans at the T-Mobile Arena. In his move to Vegas, Miller had the opportunity to establish himself as the top-four defenseman he was touted to become in Boston. Boston and Vegas have very little in common, aside from being big cities in the same country. Speaking with Miller, who always lived in cold climate areas, it was apparent what his favorite part of the move has been. “The weather, you can’t beat it! You walk outside right now (on a March morning), it’s 60, 65 degrees? It’s pretty nice waking up every day with the sun shining”. Colin added that he enjoys getting out on the golf course with the boys when he gets a chance. He did make sure to cover his bases, like a true defenseman would, saying “nothing against the cold climates, I lived in them my whole life, but yeah, the weather is really nice”.
Colin Miller, Nate Schmidt (USA Today Sports)
In his first season with the Golden Knights, Miller continued to push play, compiling a Corsi For of 56.3% at even strength, the best percentage on the VGK roster. Miller was a consistent presence on the blue line and played in all 82 games last season, before missing just over a month this season, due to an upper-body injury suffered in mid-December. While this season has not gone as smoothly as his first in Vegas, Miller continues to post good advanced metrics along with solid point totals.
2017-18 (82 games): 10 goals, 31 assists, 41 points, 56.3% Corsi For, 7.3 Corsi Rel (relative to teammates)
2018-19 (57 games): 3 goals, 23 assists, 26 points, 57.0% Corsi For, 3.3 Corsi Rel (as of March 18th)
As a team, the Golden Knights’ scoring is down this season. In their first season, the Golden Knights finished with 280 goals for, an average of 3.41 goals per game. In their first 72 games this season, the Golden Knights have compiled 217 goals, a 3.01 goals/game average, with 10 games remaining in the regular season. This season’s decrease in goal scoring can be attributed to a many factors, including Miller’s lower goal total compared to the first season in Vegas. During Nate Schmidt’s 20-game suspension (another factor), Miller operated as the de facto, number one defenseman. Night-in, night-out, Miller was tasked with defending the opposition’s best players, a new role for the young defenseman. Miller handled the task well, but when Schmidt returned, it seemed that Miller got lost in the fray, pairing with Nick Holden and/or Jon Merrill on the third pair.
Miller’s biggest value to the Golden Knights comes on the power play where his skating and big shot most frequently come into play. Along with Theodore and Schmidt, Miller represents a group of slick skating, offensively-inclined defensemen for the Golden Knights. Currently playing alongside Schmidt on the 2nd PP unit, Miller utilizes his big shot to either beat the goaltender or work deflections and rebounds for forwards in front of him. Vegas’ power play has been wildly inconsistent this season, but since the acquisition of Mark Stone, has started to regain a bit of the fire they possessed last year. Currently operating at 16.83%, the Golden Knights have the most growth potential on the man-advantage. Last season’s 21.37% power play units have gone through personnel changes, losing the likes of David Perron and James Neal to free agency this past summer. Along with Stone, Vegas added Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny to the power play mix. Guys like Colin Miller know how important the power play is to the success of the team. “It’s been ok. The most consistent games have been where we’ve been in one position. I think we have been moving around a lot of the year and guys are starting to get a little more comfortable being in certain spots and it seems to be going a little bit better, so it’s good”. Vegas needs that power play to be good heading into a potential playoff series with San Jose or Calgary, two high-powered offenses that also boast a solid defense corps.
Colin Miller (USA Today Sports)
There is no debate that the addition of Mark Stone has been huge for the Golden Knights of late. His presence alone, gives the opposing team more to think about, both in the defensive and offensive zones. Despite Stone’s impact, Colin Miller is a very important player in the Golden Knights’ push to the playoffs, quite possibly one of the biggest x-factors for the team down the stretch. When a guy like Colin Miller is activating in the offensive zone, getting that big slap shot on net, and working space open for the forwards, the opposition’s job becomes so much tougher. Fast, athletic puck-moving defensemen are a known commodity in the NHL today whereas in the past, emphasis was placed on the big, bruising defensemen. Guys like Miller, Schmidt, and Theodore can key Vegas for their second straight long run in the playoffs. If they want any chance of repeating as Western Conference Champions, my eye is on Colin Miller to be that x-factor that could lift them back to those heights.
I hope you’re enjoying the Player Profiles series. Up next will be #7, Valentin Zykov, a man who has played in just six games this season, but could be very important for the Golden Knights next year, in more ways than one.
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