Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller announces his retirement

© Jim Davis Kevan Miller signed with the Bruins in 2013, appearing in 352 games with the organization.

Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller, his career wracked by a devastating knee injury suffered in April 2019, announced his retirement Wednesday. “Although my spirit for the game is there,” Miller wrote in a lengthy Instagram post, “unfortunately my body isn’t.”

Miller, 33, missed the entire 2019-20 season recovering from a twice-broken kneecap, which he originally injured in a crash into the boards April 4, 2019 in Minnesota. While nearly cleared from surgery during the 2019 Eastern Conference Final, he broke it again while training. Miller had two more surgeries on the knee.

He returned last season and played in 28 games, taking off morning skates and practices to rest his injury.

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Miller, a Los Angeles native, came to New England to play prep hockey at the Berkshire School. He went undrafted out of Vermont, and had a tryout with the Providence Bruins in 2010 that led to a two-way deal the following season.

He made his NHL debut in 2013-14, and became a regular in 2015-16 (career-high 5-13—18 in 71 games). The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Miller served as a physical presence on the Bruins’ third pair, markedly improving his skating to be an effective player at the NHL level. In seven NHL seasons, Miller recorded 71 points, 776 hits and 571 blocked shots in 352 games.