New Jersey Devils notes: On Miller's strong play and being cautious in the trade market

Colin Miller has been great in a 3rd pairing role. Plus, my take on why Tom Fitzgerald should take a wait and see approach with regards to trades.

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A few New Jersey Devils notes as we inch towards their return to game action:

Miller addition paying off

The Colin Miller trade was met with somewhat mixed emotions when Tom Fitzgerald pulled off the deal.

It wasn’t that Miller wouldn’t help the Devils or that the price was too rich – far from it – but rather what it meant for Simon Nemec.

Many were excited to see what Nemec could bring to the Devils and, with Miller in the picture, he needed an A+ training camp to have a realistic chance of making the opening night roster. He didn’t and predictably ended up in Utica to start the year.

As fate would have it, other injuries on the backend unlocked the door for Nemec. He hasn’t just opened it; he has kicked his way through it and established himself as a full-time NHLer. A very good one, at that.

Meanwhile, Miller has provided the Devils with everything they could have hoped and more. He hasn’t just been good on the 3rd pairing; he has been great.

The Devils have absolutely steamrolled their opposition with Miller on the ice. They’ve controlled 58.42% of the shot attempts – 2nd only to Dougie Hamilton among Devils defensemen – and 57.21% of the expected goal share.

That has translated to exceptional results on the scoreboard. The Devils have scored 16 times with Miller on the ice while conceding only six goals. Mikey McLeod (+15) is the only Devils player who owns a better 5v5 goal differential than Miller (+10).

Sure, he has played mediocre competition on the 3rd pairing. Sure, he has been sheltered with plenty of offensive zone starts. I’d be ignorant not to acknowledge the minutes haven’t been overly difficult.

With that said, Miller still has to go out there and win them. He has done that no matter which partner Lindy Ruff has given him.

We all know Miller has helped bring out the best in Luke Hughes. He also owns a 71.64 xGF% over 45 minutes of work with Kevin Bahl.

Heck, Miller has even gotten results with the 5v5 anchor that is Brendan Smith.

The latter owns putrid numbers across the board this season yet he’s +3 with a 69 xGF% in 35 minutes with Miller. Small sample size, sure, but it’s encouraging Miller is getting such great results no matter who is by his side.

Miller isn’t the flashiest player and he has only put up four points. Nobody is going to be wowed by him on the surface. But when you dig a little deeper, it’s clear to see he is bringing a ton of value to the team in the role he’s been tasked with.

With Miller fitting in like a glove, and the injuries piling up on defense, he sure looks well worth the investment of a 2025 5th round pick.

Fitzgerald should wait and see