The Detroit Red Wings have waived Drew Miller after parts of eight seasons. The 32-year old forward out of Michigan State has struggled this season after missing 54 games last year due to injury. With many of the injured Red Wings coming back from their injuries someone would have to be replaced, and Miller was the odd man out.
Drew Miller Waived by Detroit Red Wings
#RedWings to waive Drew Miller at noon
— Brendan Savage (@BrendanSavage) January 22, 2017
After numerous seasons of disappointing numbers as well as young players supplanting him in the lineup, Miller will either be on another team in the next 24 hours or down in Grand Rapids with former teammate Dan Cleary. He has five goals this season, but those are not a result of good play. He has been a very poor player according to analytics. His 41.3 Corsi-for percentage is worst on the team, and he is second worst on the team in Fenwick-for percentage. As a fourth line player, his value to the team comes as defense and penalty killing. Unfortunately for Miller he has been poor in both areas to this point in the season.
He originally joined the Red Wings during the 2009-2010 season after being picked up on waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning, and went on to score ten goals and 19 points in the 66 games he played with the team in an injury-riddled year for Detroit. His best season came in 2011-2012 where he put up 14 goals and 25 points as well as a 53.9 Corsi For Percentage. He never again surpassed the ten goal mark, even while playing every game in the following three seasons.
#RedWings Drew Miller, who was waived at noon today, has until noon Monday to clear. If he does, he can be assigned to @griffinshockey
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 22, 2017
His waiving came as a result not only of his poor play, but also the outstanding play of Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou. Both players were expected to fill only minor roles in Detroit this season. Injuries however dictated that they play top-6 forward minutes, and they have thrived in those roles. Once Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader returned from their injuries, the had to unseat players other than AA and Mantha. This resulted in Steve Ott being placed on IR and now Drew Miller being waived. He is a well liked player and can provide mentoring to younger players, so it will be interesting to see where he might end up.
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