Here's Kevan Miller's numbers and where he ranks amongst the 8 regular the Bruins have used this year (so no Irwin or Cross). This is even strength. This was a surprising excersise.
- CF 3rd, 50.2%
- CorsiRel- 1.3, 3rd
- CF/60- 55.11, 5th
- CA/60- 54.69, 3rd
- SF/60- 30.41, 5th
- SA/60- 29.05, 3rd
- GF/60- 2.73, 2nd
- GA/60- 2.56, 7th
- O-Zone start- 29.9%, 6th
- D-Zone start- 28.5%, 7th
- Neutral Zone Start- 41.6%, 1st
- On-ice Save %- .9120, 7th
- Points per 60- 1.03, 3rd
So there we go. My takeaway is that Kevan Miller's been better than the eye has indicated. Numbers wise, he's been one of their better D. He's a low event guy. Not a lot of shots for or against when he's on the ice, but he generally comes out slightly ahead in the shot differentials. Claude must be leery of his defense because he does avoid putting Miller out there for DZone starts. Only Colin has fewer DZone starts. Kevan is also 2nd on the team in PK TOI behind only Chara.
The big concern is the goals against per 60 and the on ice save percentage. The 2.56 GA/60 ranks 144th out of 161 D with 500 minutes. The save percentage is bad too. I don't think it is bad luck. I think when he makes a mistake, me makes a real bad one that hangs everyone out to dry. Like the pinch fiasco with Pastrnak last night. I think this is where our "gahhhhhhh Miller sucks!!!!!" moments come. When he screws up, he makes them count. And they are obvious to everyone watching.
My view after looking at this- Julien knows Kevan has limitations in moving the puck, hence the lack of DZone starts, but he does think Miller is a good, relatively safe positional, stay at home defenseman as evidenced by the PK time on ice. You're not looking to break the puck out on the PK, so he lets him play there and chip it out all day.