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NHL mock draft: Final projections for every first-round pick

By Derek Grochowski

BUFFALO, NY - JANUARY 5: Rasmus Dahlin #8 of Sweden in play against Canada during the Gold medal game of the IIHF World Junior Championship at KeyBank Center on January 5, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. Canada beat Sweden 3-1. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - JANUARY 5: Rasmus Dahlin #8 of Sweden in play against Canada during the Gold medal game of the IIHF World Junior Championship at KeyBank Center on January 5, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. Canada beat Sweden 3-1. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images) /
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PLYMOUTH, MI – FEBRUARY 16: K’Andre Miller #19 of the USA Nationals skates up ice with the puck against the Russian Nationals during the 2018 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament game at USA Hockey Arena on February 16, 2018 in Plymouth, Michigan. USA defeated Russia 5-4. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)*** Local Caption *** K’Andre Miller
PLYMOUTH, MI – FEBRUARY 16: K’Andre Miller #19 of the USA Nationals skates up ice with the puck against the Russian Nationals during the 2018 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament game at USA Hockey Arena on February 16, 2018 in Plymouth, Michigan. USA defeated Russia 5-4. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)*** Local Caption *** K’Andre Miller /

28. New York Rangers – D K’Andre Miller

The New York Rangers are fortunate to have a total of three first round picks in this year’s draft. They acquired a defensive prospect in the Rick Nash trade and the Michael Grabner trade. Ryan Lindgren and Yegor Rykov will be future pieces to the Rangers’ success, but they will not be top pair defenders. There are three chances to grab a defenseman. With the top talent of forwards early in the draft it is likely the Rangers take a defenseman last. K’Andre Miller is one of the best pure athletes in this draft and one of the better defenseman. The most exciting part about this prospect is that he has not even played defense that long.

K’Andre Miller has not been playing defense for his entire life. He started his career as a forward and played that way most of high school. Miller finally switched to defense and then made the jump to the USNTDP. He was able to fine tune his game there and grew into a good defenseman. He has all of the offensive talent and knowledge of a forward mixed with great physical ability. Miller will get even more time to develop his defensive talents at the University of Wisconsin next season.

Miller would not be a first round pick if he couldn’t play defense at all. He has the talent to be a good defenseman right away but there are some areas he must improve on. He is an amazing skater with great strength and a higher ceiling. Miller has a lot of room to grow and that should excite any team picking late in the first round. In five years from now people will be wondering how he fell all the way to the Rangers in this spot. A few good seasons in the NCAA will be perfect for Miller.

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