The Anaheim Ducks have signed goalie Ryan Miller to a two-year contract worth $2 million per season.

Miller’s personal life seemed to play a major role in his decision, as his wife Noureen DeWulf is an actress working in Hollywood. Although he will no longer be a starting goalie, Miller has a better opportunity to win a Stanley Cup in Anaheim than he would have in Vancouver. So it’s fair to say he goes from being on the lower end of the scale for starters to being on the higher end of the scale for backups.
 

Live look at Miller heading to the #NHLDucks 😂

Welcome to Anaheim, @RyanMiller3039! pic.twitter.com/i6s972frWp

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) July 1, 2017

In spite of the signing, John Gibson is still entrenched as the starter in Anaheim. But his injury history prevents him from being placed in the workhorse category. Gibson played a career-high 52 games this past season, missing over a month due to a lower-body injury. Miller, meanwhile, has taken on a heavy workload throughout his career but shouldn’t at this point because of his age. So there’s opportunity for Miller to play 25-30 games and be more well-rested in the process. At the same time, the Miller signing insulates Gibson from injuries resulting from heavy use. So a potential win-win.

With a stronger defense in front of him, Miller should have the opportunity to post better ratios than he did in Vancouver (2.80 GAA, .914 SV% last season). Although he may be considered a downgrade now that he is a backup, Miller’s win total may not change much. He failed to record 20 wins over the past two seasons in Vancouver, so that total may only drop a little bit with the Ducks. You’ll just have to follow Goalie Post to find out when Miller starts, but you should have been picking and choosing when you started Miller when in Vancouver anyway.

The Canucks have signed Anders Nilsson to take Miller’s roster spot. Read more about the Canucks here.