Kevan Miller, Bruins Agree to New Contract: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

The Boston Bruins and defenseman Kevan Miller agreed to a four-year contract worth $10 million Tuesday, according to his agent, Peter Fish. 

DJ Bean of WEEI reported the news. Miller, 28, had 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 71 games played in 2015-16. 

While not much of a scorer, Miller was consistently on the ice when good things happened last year. He had the second-best plus/minus on the team, all while setting career highs across nearly every major category. That said, Miller also drew some criticism for his play, which would be solid on one night and wildly inconsistent the next.

“I think it was frustrating,” Miller said, per Stephen Hewitt of the Boston Herald. “I wanted to be more consistent throughout the season. There were some ups and downs coming back off surgery last season and this year I was trying to find my feet initially and toward the end I started to play pretty well."

Still, the move makes the lower portion of Boston's defenseman rotation a bit expensive. Between Miller and Adam McQuaid, the Bruins are spending about $18 million over the next four years. That's not an ideal distribution of assets given the inconsistent play of those two players.

Boston enters the summer in need of enforcement on the defensive side. The team finished ninth in the Eastern Conference last season in large part because it ranked 19th in goals allowed per game. Some of that lands on the shoulders of Tuukka Rask, but he wasn't done many favors by the guys behind the blue line.

The Bruins are loaded up front with talented goal-scorers. Maybe continuity defensively will be the answer next season. But this feels like an expensive way to find out.