Free Agency Notes: Miller, Liles, Witkowski

Beyond the top few names of the free agent period—Kevin Shattenkirk, Alexander Radulov and others—there are many depth players who will switch teams and provide quite a bit of value for their new squads. One such player is likely Ryan Miller, who even at 36 is one of the best goaltenders on the market. Though it had been previously reported that the Canucks would try to sign Miller to an incentive-laden deal, it now looks like the two sides will part ways.

Anders Nilsson is rumored to be heading to Vancouver, while another writer—this time Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register—has linked Miller to the Anaheim Ducks and their vacant backup position. As we wrote in our Top 50 Free Agent list, where Miller ranked 29th, heading to the Southern California are where he, along with wife and actress Noreen DeWulf, live in the offseason is an obvious fit. The fact that the Ducks are a competitive team with a clear role for Miller behind young goaltender John Gibson just adds to the likelihood of him ending up there by the end of the weekend.

• The Boston Bruins are likely to move on from their trio of free agents, with John-Michael Liles already being told he would not return. Both Drew Stafford and Dominic Moore are probably going elsewhere, but GM Don Sweeney wouldn’t completely close the door on circling back to them. All three will find work around the NHL should they want to keep playing.
• Ansar Khan of MLive brings up some Detroit news, indicating that the Red Wings are interested in former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Luke Witkowski. Witkowski isn’t a big name, but could potentially log some minutes in the NHL as Detroit continues to rebuild. The team has also been linked to Trevor Daley, another potential depth defender for next season.