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Hostile offer to K’Andre Miller: many were hoping the Canadian would do it

 Manuel Sperandio-Lemay
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Hostile offer to K’Andre Miller: many were hoping the Canadian would do it

In recent years, hostile bids haven’t exactly been fashionable. After all, in the NHL, there’s a sort of unwritten law in place between the various teams not to do so.

It’s a bit like the bro code: you don’t break it without consequences. And that’s something Marc Bergevin has learned. #SebastianAho #JesperiKotkaniemi

All this to say that, apart from the war between the Hurricanes and the Canadiens (under Marc Bergevin), it’s been a long time since the NHL has seen such a manoeuvre.

Will we ever see it again? We don’t know.

But what we do know, thanks to the information thrown around in 32 Thoughts yesterday, is that many in the NHL were hoping to see the Habs make a hostile offer to K’Andre Miller. One of the reasons they wanted to do this was because of the chaos it would create.

We’re talking about the Rangers’ left-handed defenseman, who scored 43 points last year.

Miller is a 6’5 left-handed defenseman. He was a first-round pick (22nd overall) of the Rangers in 2018… back when a certain Jeff Gorton ran the Big Apple club and Nick Bobrov was also a member of the club.

In 2019-2020, Miller also played with Cole Caufield in the colors of the Wisconsin Bagders.

Obviously, we understand why the CH would do it. After all, with the right offer, maybe the $6.17M the Rangers have available to sign Alexis Lafrenière and K’Andre Miller wouldn’t be enough to keep Miller in town.

That said, making a hostile offer isn’t easy for the CH this year. Without their second-round pick in 2024, it’s even more complicated.

But hey. The fact remains that if the CH were to make a hostile bid, it might not be for a left-handed defenseman, and it might not be with Jeff Gorton’s former club either.

I don’t know how he sees it.

Yes, Gorton brought Lias Andersson back to his club, but would he do it with a former player via a hostile bid? Does Kent Hughes feel comfortable enough (as the incumbent GM for 18 months) to table one?

Note that this isn’t the first time the CH has been linked to a defenseman for a hostile bid in 2023, and it’s also not the first time K’Andre Miller’s name has been linked to a hostile bid.

Note that I’m not sure why Friedman’s sources were hoping to see the CH specifically table such an offer. I understand the reasons why they might, but as I said, there are also reasons not to.

But imagine the flexibility that the arrival of the giant defender would offer the Habs, who could trade a few left-handed defensemen for reinforcements up front. It would be pretty exciting, but don’t bet your house on such a scenario…

If we keep both feet on the ground, we can really see that the two young RFAs (Miller and Lafrenière) will have to give the Rangers a run for their money this year. With such a tight mass, New York can’t have wasted dollars.

That’s why I think forward Alex Newhook left Denver once his entry-level contract was up: teams want to maximize entry-level contracts.


In a nutshell

– Fan passion.

– Can the Senators maximize Alex DeBrincat’s market value? [BPM Sports]

– It’s a holiday in the United States.

– Read more.

– Have a good listen.

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