Miller (6-foot-3, 206 pounds) started playing defense three seasons ago when his coach at Minnetonka (Minn.) High School suggested he give it a try. As it turns out, the move was a positive one.
"He was looking for an extra [defenseman] to build a team and wanted to know if I wanted to try it for a few games and I ended up liking it a lot, was able to get up in the rush," Miller said. "When I go into the corners I usually think of myself as a center, just trying to be gritty in the corners. I'm trying to replicate my game from center to defense. I look at myself as the fourth forward by jumping into the play."
Seth Appert, the first-year coach of the NTDP U-18 team, has liked what he's seen from Miller, who has 14 points (five goals, nine assists), a plus-3 rating and 55 shots on goal 29 games.
He also had one assist and one shot on goal for Team Chris Chelios in a 6-5 loss against Team Brian Leetch at the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Sept. 21.
"It's unique in that [Miller] has the skill set to be an elite defenseman," Appert said. "He's long, rangy, he's got a good defensive stick and he can really skate. Right off the bat when you see a guy like that you think he would be a good power center. But he also has a real special skill set that translates to defense."