Pittsburgh Penguins’ Ryan Miller Is Emerging as a Legitimate Late-Round Steal – The Hockey Writers – Pittsburgh Penguins

Ryan Miller is beginning to look like much more than one of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ many selections from the 2025 NHL Draft.

Pittsburgh selected Miller in the fifth round, 130th overall, after he recorded 16 goals and 31 points during his second season with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He responded with a major offensive breakout, producing 30 goals and 76 points in 65 games while serving as Portland’s captain.

The improvement earned Miller a brief introduction to professional hockey with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League (AHL), another leadership role at Pittsburgh’s development camp and increased attention within the organization’s deeper prospect pool. His skating, relentless puck pursuit, and two-way intelligence now give him a realistic path toward becoming an NHL forward.

Miller is not a late-round steal yet. His upcoming freshman season with the University of Denver Pioneers of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will determine whether his WHL breakout represented sustainable growth or one exceptional junior campaign. He has already provided more reasons for optimism than most fifth-round picks produce this quickly.

Miller’s WHL Breakout Changed His Projection

Miller’s draft-year production suggested Pittsburgh was selecting a competitive, responsible forward with limited offensive upside. His final season in Portland forced a significant reevaluation.

The Winterhawks’ current player statistics list Miller with 30 goals and 46 assists for 76 points in 65 games. He finished second on the team in each offensive category, led Portland with a plus-14 rating and tied for the WHL lead with four short-handed goals.

That was not a modest improvement. Miller more than doubled his previous career high in points while becoming effective in nearly every situation. He contributed on the power play, helped the penalty kill, and handled difficult minutes as the captain of a relatively young team.

His most impressive stretch demonstrated that the production was not built through occasional scoring bursts. Miller extended his point streak to 22 consecutive WHL games in December, including a three-point performance against the Vancouver Giants. He consistently created offense while maintaining the pressure and defensive detail that initially attracted Pittsburgh.

Portland also presented Miller with its Winterhawk Award for character, leadership, heart, and commitment. The team’s season awards reinforced that his value extended beyond the scoring increase and reflected how much responsibility he assumed during his final junior season.

That combination changed Miller’s possible ceiling. He was no longer merely a defensively responsible late-round selection. He had shown enough offense to create a plausible middle-six projection.

Competitiveness Gives Miller a Clear Identity

Many prospects produce large junior totals without developing a skill or identity capable of surviving against professional competition. Miller’s clearest strengths should remain useful even if his scoring decreases.

Tom Kostopoulos, Pittsburgh’s director of player development, praised Miller’s powerful skating, puck skills, and unusual determination during battles after development camp. In a new evaluation, Kostopoulos emphasized how strongly the forward wants possession and how difficult he is willing to make every puck battle.

That competitiveness appears throughout Miller’s game. He closes quickly on defensemen, pursues second opportunities, and continues through contact rather than abandoning a play after the first attempt fails. His pressure can force rushed decisions even when he does not record a hit or takeaway.

Miller’s skating helps make the effort productive. He is not simply chasing the puck without structure; he can arrive quickly enough to affect the play and then support possession once his team regains control. His ability to accelerate into pressure gives him a foundation for becoming an effective professional forechecker.

The Penguins do not need him to become a primary offensive creator. A third-line forward who retrieves pucks, kills penalties, contributes secondary scoring, and can move higher during injuries would provide substantial value from the 130th selection.

Miller’s habits give him a clearer route toward that outcome than his draft position suggests.

AHL Audition Offered an Important Introduction

Pittsburgh gave Miller an early look at professional hockey after Portland’s season ended.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton signed Miller to an amateur tryout in April, bringing him into an AHL environment before his move to college. He appeared in two regular-season games but did not enter the lineup during the team’s extended Calder Cup Playoff run.

The short stay was not long enough to evaluate his production. Its value came from exposing Miller to professional preparation, physicality and pace before he returned for the summer.

He could observe how players trained between games, how quickly decisions had to be made and how little space remained available against stronger opponents. That experience should give him a useful reference point when he begins facing older college players at Denver.

Miller then returned to Pittsburgh’s development camp as captain of Team Murphy. The Penguins had also named him a development-camp captain one year earlier, indicating that the organization recognized his leadership qualities before his statistical breakout was complete.

His performance reinforced the decision. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s development-camp scrimmage report described Miller as noticeable from the beginning, with his pressure eventually creating the opening assist on a goal by Tomas Galvas.

Development-camp success should not be treated like professional production. The three-on-three format also creates more space than Miller will receive in an NHL or AHL game. His repeated ability to stand out showed that his energy and competitiveness translated when surrounded by other Penguins prospects.

Denver Will Test Miller’s Offensive Growth

Miller will join a strong Denver program that should provide a more demanding test than another WHL season.

The Pioneers’ incoming freshman class includes four forwards and four defensemen with a mixture of production, leadership, and championship experience. Miller will have to earn his role within a talented lineup rather than automatically receiving the minutes he handled as Portland’s captain.

That environment should help Pittsburgh determine which parts of his offensive breakout are transferable. College defenders will be older and stronger, while structured opponents will reduce the open ice that allowed Miller to create extended pressure in junior hockey.

His skating and anticipation should help with the adjustment. Miller must prove he can continue finding scoring areas without relying on superior junior-level strength or receiving every important offensive assignment.

Denver’s roster lists him at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, giving him a solid frame without making size a defining advantage. His Pioneers player profile also highlights the leadership and production he accumulated during more than three seasons with Portland.

A successful freshman season does not require another 30 goals or a point-per-game pace. Miller needs to establish himself as a regular, contribute throughout the lineup, and show that his forechecking can create offense against better competition.

If he earns penalty-killing responsibility and produces secondary scoring, his third-line professional projection will become considerably stronger.

Penguins’ Forward Depth Raises the Competition

Miller’s rise is occurring as Pittsburgh develops a much deeper group of young forwards.

Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen are already competing for permanent NHL roles. Bill Zonnon, Will Horcoff, Liam Ruck, Markus Ruck, Carter Sanderson, and several others give the organization additional options at different stages of development.

The Penguins’ top 15 prospects did not include Miller, but that ranking was never going to determine his eventual value. His path depends on continuing to outperform the expectations attached to his draft position.

Pittsburgh’s depth also means Miller cannot remain stationary. A strong WHL season moved him into the conversation, but other prospects will continue gaining professional experience or producing at younger ages.

His specific identity may help him avoid becoming buried. The organization has several skilled forwards and potential scorers, but fewer prospects whose games are built around speed, puck pursuit, penalty killing, and consistent physical engagement.

Miller could eventually complement more creative players by doing the work required to recover possession and sustain offense. That projection is different from asking him to compete directly with Pittsburgh’s highest-upside prospects.

A recent look at prospects who could climb focused on players with clear opportunities to improve their organizational standing. Miller now belongs in that broader discussion because Denver gives him a direct path toward proving his breakout can survive another level.

Calling a prospect a steal before he becomes an NHL player creates an unnecessarily low standard. Miller still has significant work ahead before Pittsburgh can consider the fifth-round selection a true success.

His WHL season provided meaningful evidence rather than a guarantee. Miller must continue improving his puck skills, prove he can produce against older competition, and eventually show that his energy remains effective across a professional schedule.

The reasons for optimism are becoming more substantial. He more than doubled his previous point total, developed into Portland’s captain, contributed in every situation and earned an early look with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. His development-camp performance then reinforced the same skating, competitiveness and two-way detail that drove his breakout.

Denver represents the next and most important test. If Miller becomes an effective college forward without losing the relentless style that defines him, his NHL path will become much easier to identify.

The Penguins selected him in the fifth round hoping his competitiveness could support further development. One year later, that development has already made him one of the organization’s more intriguing late-round prospects.

Miller is not a steal yet. He is beginning to look like a player with a legitimate chance to become one.