Anaheim Ducks: Ryan Miller’s unretirement is an early Christmas miracle

Ryan Miller and the Anaheim Ducks are ready for one more peculiar ride.

When Ryan Miller announced his retirement at the end of the Anaheim Ducks‘ regular season back in March, it put the franchise into a bit of an odd position.

Now granted, it’s not like anyone really expected the Ducks to challenge for a playoff spot in 2021 regardless of the composition of the Pacific Conference. Their mid-2010s playoff core is rapidly aging out of contention while the team still lacks an elite prospect to build around sans maybe franchise goaltender John Gibson. With that being said, someone has to fill in the other 30ish percent of the team’s starts.

The team does have Anthony Stolarz under contract through the 2020-21 season, and he just so happens to be the reigning NHL saves leader at 94.4 percent, but all 34 of those save attempts came over two games, so it’s hard to really project him out over a 20-30 game sample size.

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No, with the season now officially back on track, the Ducks needed to find someone, anyone, to fill out their goaltender depth chart if for no other reason than to avoid playing Gibson in the season’s seven regular season back-to-backs.

Fortunately, the Ducks didn’t have to look too hard for a replacement for Miller; they just had to place a call to the man himself.

That’s right, in an early Christmas miracle, Miller decided that retirement can wait, and he’d rather roll with the Ducks for one more season than sit at home for what should be one of the most unique seasons in NHL history.

Huh, I wonder if the Ducks’ fantastic Reverse Retro uniforms had anything to do with the 40-year-old East Lansing native’s decision?

Now, in theory, Miller’s return couldn’t be any more perfect for the Ducks. He already knows Dallas Eakins’ system, is familiar with defensemen like Hampus Lindholm and Cam Fowler, and clearly wants to play. The season’s unique nature, with an abbreviated slate of games and limited travel could also alleviate some of the wear and tear on Miller’s body going into his 18th NHL season.

Objectively speaking, Ryan Miller is nothing but a stopgap for the Anaheim Ducks in 2021, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. With 2018 third-round pick Lukas Dostal still a season away from being a viable second-string goaltender at best, retaining 2010 the Vezina Trophy winner on a one-year deal to serve as a bridge between the Ducks’ past and future just makes sense.