The signing of Mitchell Miller was the biggest regret that the Boston Bruins president had as an NHL executive.
"I am very upset that we have made a lot of people unhappy with our decision." I'm proud of the Bruins organization and what they stand for, but we failed there.
The Bruins signed Miller to an entry level contract with the intention of sending him to Providence. After intense backlash from fans, the team's own players and Commissioner Gary Bettman, the team parted ways with Miller.
He will never be eligible to enter the NHL, said Bettman on Saturday.
Miller was a fourth-round pick by the Arizona Coyotes in 2020, but his draft rights were relinquished when a story was published about how he and another middle school classmate were convicted in juvenile court in 2016 of assault and harassment. According to the report, the mother said Miller used racial slurs and abused her son.
In August, the possibility of signing Miller was brought up. The Bruins decided to end their relationship with him because of new information. It was concerning to me that the Bruins never reached out to the family of Meyer-Crothers, and that it was a problem with the vetting process.
"We hold ourselves accountable for what we do and we like to take pride in what we do in the community," said Neely. I'm here to apologize.
I would like to apologize to the family. They should not continue to go through this.
The Bruins believed Miller deserved a chance in the NHL.
He was working on himself, working in programs to better himself. I thought it was a 14-year-old who made a really, really bad decision and did some horrible things, and he's 20 years old now. I thought he had done a lot of work on himself.
The Bruins president said the team could've done more to sign Miller.
The initial backlash came from NHL fans and quickly extended to Boston's own players, who had been told that Miller would be signed. Miller's actions are unacceptable and we don't agree with them.
Miller's future in the league is uncertain according to Bettman. The NHL told the NHL Players' Association on Saturday that it had not heard of any discipline against Miller.
The Boston GM talked to the deputy commissioner about Miller.
If Mitchell wanted to play in the NHL, he'd have to get in front of Gary Bettman, according to the NHL deputy commissioner.
The signing of Miller was one of the biggest regrets of the executive. The Bruins are off to their best start in franchise history, with a 10-2-0 record.
The timing was not likely to be good. Whether we're doing it or not, it got to the point. We made a mistake.
Ryan S. Clark was a contributor.
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