Bruins D Kevan Miller Would’ve Been Cleared For Game 7

Boston Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller confirmed to the media on Friday morning that had the Bruins been able to force a Game 7 against the New York Islanders, he would’ve been cleared to play.

“Yeah, I took the impact test on Wednesday. …skated with the guys on Tuesday and took the impact test Wednesday and was cleared for contact Thursday I most likely would’ve been ready to go and cleared for Game 7,” Miller said.

Kevan Miller suffered a concussion in Game 4 of the first-round series with the Washington Capitals that the Bruins won in five games and hasn’t played since. The concussion kept him overnight in the hospital and in Miller’s first session with the media since then, he gave his take on the questionable hit from Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov that concussed him.

“I wish he would have just hit me in the shoulder instead of the chin,” Miller said. “Just hit me in the shoulder. Hit me clean and I’m still playing. Hit me square.”

That didn’t happen and once again, Miller, who battled back from two knee surgeries over the last two years, had to watch his team lose a physical series in which his presence surely would’ve helped. Following Game 4 against the Capitals, Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy essentially forecasted what would happen without Kevan Miller in the lineup again.

“What it means is we lose a veteran guy, a strong guy, a heavy guy,” Cassidy said. “It’s exposed us a bit on the penalty kill. He’s played a lot of minutes there. We’ve had to use guys that maybe haven’t played quite as much. So that’s one area we miss him.”

Despite his hard work and training, Miller’s previous knee injury caused him to miss half of the 2021 regular season. Miller, 33, can become an unrestricted free agent on July 28 and he was candid about how things have gone and where they’re going as far as his career goes. He did not rule out retirement.

“You want to play every game you can,” Kevan Miller said. “That was my goal this year. Obviously, that didn’t happen. It’s something I gotta discuss with my family and we’ll go from there.”