Bruins sign prospect who had rights renounced by Coyotes due to bullying

The Boston Bruins signed defenseman
Mitchell Miller
to an entry-level contract Friday.

The 20-year-old was selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the fourth round (No. 111) of the 2020 NHL Draft on Oct. 7. The Coyotes renounced his rights 22 days later after the Arizona Republic reported Miller was involved in multiple racial bullying incidents with a special needs student, Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, in Sylvania, Ohio when he was 14, which resulted in a conviction in juvenile court. One of the incidents involved Miller and others tricking Meyer-Crothers into consuming a piece of candy that had been wiped on the inside of a urinal.
"I am not going to downplay that this has been a personal struggle as well as a professional struggle as we go through and try and separate the hockey player and the person," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said, adding that he has spent time with Miller, particularly during the past 10 days, and has spent time discussing the signing with his own family.
"Mitchell has paid a punishment and he's going to continue to carry that for the rest of his life. And we're going to hold him to a standard that he understands that each and every one of us as individuals look in the mirror every day and respect others and have to be unilaterally inclusive."
Miller was assigned to Providence of the American Hockey League.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, speaking Saturday at the 2022 NHL Global Series in Tampere, Finland, said the League was not consulted by the Bruins before Miller was signed. He also said Miller is not eligible to play in the NHL.
"What I understand and I've heard through the media anecdotally, what he did as a 14-year-old is reprehensible, unacceptable," Commissioner Bettman said. "Before the Bruins made the decision to sign him, we were not consulted. I happened to talk to Cam Neely since the time he was signed.
"He's not coming into the NHL, he's not eligible at this point to come into the NHL. I can't tell you that he'll ever be eligible to come into the NHL," Commissioner Bettman said. "If, in fact, at some point they think they want him to play in the NHL, and I'm not sure that they're anywhere close to that point, we are going to have to clear him and his eligibility and it'll be based on all the information that we get firsthand at the time.
"So the answer is they were free to sign him to play somewhere else, that's another league's issue, but nobody should think at this point he is or may ever be NHL eligible. And the Bruins understand that now."
Asked what he would need to see from Miller, Bettman said, "I would need to see a whole bunch of things and understand a lot more firsthand than I do now anecdotally."
Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron, in Toronto on Saturday, expressed his concern with the Bruins signing Miller and what it would take for him to be accepted in their locker room.
"I was asked by Don about close to a week ago now as to my opinion. I had my concerns and shared my opinion. In a way I think I was not necessarily agreeing with it," Bergeron said. "To be honest, the culture we built here goes against that type of behavior. I think we're a team that has build something about character and character people and individuals. What he did obviously is unacceptable and we don't stand by that.
"In this locker room, we are all about diversity, inclusion and respect. Those are the key words and core values we have. We expect guys to wear this jersey to be high character people with integrity and respect. That's how they should be acting. My understanding is he is going to put in the work and development in development and community programs to better himself. It's up to him to do that. From my standpoint, it's a hockey operations decision and we can only control what we can control. Truthfully, hopefully there is some growth and change. If its the same 14 year old walking into this locker room, he wouldn't be acceptable and welcomed in this locker room to be honest with you."
On Friday, Miller said the contract was a "huge opporunity for me and the Bruins."
"Personally I'm here to better myself off the ice with community stuff, diversity training and being in the community more," he said after his first practice in Providence. "The Bruins have offered a lot for me to follow my path. I think I'll be able to help them on and off the ice."
The signing has drawn fire from Bruins fans and others across social media. Sweeney said the reaction from the Bruins leadership core was much the same as from outside the organization.
"Like, why? Why would you necessarily invite this?" Sweeney said.
Forward Nick Foligno, who signed with the Bruins as a free agent on July 28, said news of the signing was "tough to swallow."
"It's not something that anyone in this room stands for. The culture we have built and these guys have built before I got here is one of inclusion and I think it goes against that," Foligno said. "I understand he was 14 when he made that mistake but it's hard for us to swallow because we take a lot of pride in here, the way we act and carry ourselves and what it is to be a Bruin.
"It was a tough thing to hear for our group I'm not going to lie to you. I don't think any guy was too happy because of how proud we are to say this is a group that cares a lot about ourselves, how we carry ourselves and how we treat people so for especially the guys who have been here, that was a tough pill to swallow. I don't think the organization is ever not looking out for the best interest of us but I think we had a lot of concerns and this kid will have to answer and have to prove to everybody, especially if he wants to get in this room that he's a changed man and we hope he works towards that."
Sweeney said the Bruins had done a significant amount of background work on Miller during the past 6-12 months and has spent time with Miller and his family recently. But he also said that the Bruins have not had direct contact with the family of the victim.
"I don't feel that it was necessary at this point in time to hear both sides of the story, albeit, I think we take Isaiah's side that this event happened and the culpability lies 100 percent with Mitchell and he needs to live with that and work for the rest of his life to have a better understanding of what it means to respect people and live it," Sweeney said.
He added, "We feel we're in a position that when doors were slamming that maybe we would allow one to open up. We felt as an organization we'd be strong enough to do that and hold him to the [Bruins] standard."
But Sweeney also expressed reservations about the signing, saying that the decision ultimately could be wrong. He said multiple times that the decision is "not about forgiveness."
"Personally this has been a struggle as to what is right and what is wrong," he said. "I can't categorically tell you this is the absolute right decision. This is an opportunity that we're providing for a young man that is going to work to continue to earn trust and respect as each and every one of us do, every day. My own personal judgement on this wasn't the final say."
Miller called the bullying a poor decision and said he regretted it in a statement issued by the Bruins.
"When I was in eighth grade, I made an extremely poor decision and acted very immaturely," Miller said in the statement. "I bullied one of my classmates. I deeply regret the incident and have apologized to the individual. Since the incident, I have come to better understand the far-reaching consequences of my actions that I failed to recognize and understand nearly seven years ago. I strive to be a better person and positively contribute to society.
"As a member of the Bruins organization, I will continue to participate in community programs to both educate myself and share my mistakes with others to show what a negative impact those actions can have on others. To be clear, what I did when I was 14 years old was wrong and unacceptable. There is no place in this world for being disrespectful to others and I pledge to use this opportunity to speak out against mistreating others."
Asked why Miller deserves the privilege of playing in the NHL, Sweeney said, "He has to earn the opportunity to play in the NHL as a player. But more importantly, he has to earn the respect of teammates and, really, everywhere in society to garner a second chance."
Sweeney said Miller would be placed into community programs to continue to educate himself and others, though he declined to be specific about the programs.
Miller said he had been in discussions with other NHL teams but said the Bruins provide him the best opportunity to grow off the ice.
"When I came out to Boston and met with everyone from hockey operations, I sat down, I opened up about what I did," he said. "And I think they have the best resources for me and the stuff I want to do. I think they can help me the best moving forward with my path, and also how I want to be off the ice, in the community and help talk against bullying as well."
In addition to having his draft rights renounced, Miller was removed from the University of North Dakota hockey team.
After sitting out the 2020-21 season, Miller played for Tri-City in the United States Hockey League last season. He was named the league's player of the year and defenseman of the year after tying for the USHL lead with 39 goals and leading all defensemen with 83 points.
Bruins president Cam Neely said members of Boston's hockey operations and community relations staffs spent time with Miller.
"Representing the Boston Bruins is a privilege we take seriously as an organization," Neely said. "Respect and integrity are foundational character traits we expect of our players and staff. Prior to signing Mitchell, our hockey operations and community relations groups spent time with him over the last few weeks to better understand who he is as an individual and learn more about a significant mistake he made when he was in middle school. During this evaluation period, Mitchell was accountable for his unacceptable behavior and demonstrated his commitment to work with multiple organizations and professionals to further his education and use his mistake as a teachable moment for others. The expectation is that he will continue this important educational work with personal development and community programs as a member of the Bruins organization."
Forward Brad Marchand said what Miller did will will "never" be part of the Bruins.
"We have a culture in this room. We don't condone what happened and that will never be part of our team and organization," Marchand said. "If he's with our group, it will be because he's shown that he's learned and matured and come a long way. It's going to be a very long process for him. And that's on him. At the end of the day, we can only control what we can and that's what's in our room. If that time ever comes, it will be dealt with but it's a long process for him."
NHL.com independent correspondent Mark Divver and Dave McCarthy contributed to this report
Photo: Tri-City Storm