It has been an up-and-down season for New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller, who is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. As a result, the Rangers and Miller are at a bit of a crossroads as the two sides need to agree on what the long-term future is after a frustrating year.

Miller's play has improved since the acquisition of Will Borgen in the deal that sent former No. 2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken. Miller is tuning out the noise as much as he can ahead of a significant summer for him.

“I've done a pretty good job of just putting it on the back burner for this year,” Miller said, via Vince Mercogliano of Lohud. “I'm just worrying about getting better every day, pushing my teammates to be better, and really demanding the best out of myself. When the contract comes, it comes.”

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Miller does have great potential, and he is still just 25 years old, so the Rangers still could bet on him getting better in the long term. It will be interesting to see what kind of deal he gets. The Rangers could decide that they want to give Miller a bridge type of deal, which would be interesting because that is what they did two years ago when they gave him a two-year, $7.744 million contract. Now, that contract is expiring.

When Miller signed his previous deal, he likely hoped to be in a place to sign a long-term contract this upcoming summer. This season overall has not been ideal for his upcoming negotiations.

For now, the Rangers are making a playoff push, despite their struggles down the stretch this season. They and Miller hope to sneak into the playoffs and make a run, then figure out the contract at some point in the summer.