Detroit Red Wings from the vault: Forward Drew Miller

In the latest edition of from the vault, take a look at Detroit Red Wings forward Drew Miller and his ten-year career in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Since there is no hockey to watch, take a walk down memory lane and look at the career of Drew Miller from the Detroit Red Wings players vault. Miller has since moved on and found himself in the booth nowadays, making some appearances on Red Wings Live alongside the regular crew.

Before this, though, Miller would have a ten-year career in the NHL, spending eight of those seasons with the Red Wings. He came into the league with the Anaheim Ducks, where he spent two seasons. He would play in a combined 43 games played with six goals and nine assists for 15 points.

After a trade between the Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning in 2009-10, Miller would suit up for the Bolts for fourteen games. He would be placed on waivers where the Red Wings snagged him. He would spend the remainder of his career in a winged wheel uniform.

More from Detroit Jock City

• Tigers Sign Manager A.J. Hinch to Long-Term Extension
• Lions vs. Bears Week 14 Opening Odds Disrespect Detroit
• Former Tigers Celebrate Jim Leyland Hall of Fame Call
• This Pistons Team Could be the Worst in Detroit Sports History
• 4 Free Agents Tigers Should Sign During Winter Meetings

Miller’s best season still only had him producing 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points over 80 games. The 2009-10 season through the 2011-12 season was the best run of Miller’s career even though he would only score just above 15 points in all of them.

Looking back, Miller was no scoring threat, but he did serve a purpose on the Red Wings as a bottom-six/fourth-line winger who was on the “grind line.”

Miller was a defensive-minded forward who did provide value to the Red Wings, though it was invisible on the scoresheet.

Incredibly enough, Miller did not produce a positive CF% relative to the team’s average in any of his seasons with the Red Wings.

To translate this into less wordy and statistical terms, this means that the opposing team had the puck more when he was on the ice on average.

This makes sense when comparing his CF% numbers to his zone-star percentages, which tend to favor the defensive zone. For those fans who tend to look at a player’s luck, which is measured by PDO, Miller only was above the average number of 100 in three seasons, besides one precisely at 100.

The rest of the time, his PDO was below 100, which essentially means he was unlucky when it came to his shots on net. Though few and far between, it makes it harder to score when the hockey gods tend to be working against a player.

He was no hero, he was no all-star, he was not even an offensive threat, but Miller was a defensive forward who played with the Red Wings when they were actually competitive.