Mitchell Miller, a prospect whose draft rights have been relinquished after it publicly surfaced that he and a classmate have been convicted of assaulting and bullying a developmentally disabled classmate, signed an entry-level contract Friday with the Boston Bruins.
The 20-year-old defenseman was a fourth-round choice of the Arizona Coyotes in 2020. Shortly after he was drafted, nevertheless, a report by the Arizona Republic detailed how Miller and one other center faculty classmate have been convicted in juvenile courtroom in 2016 of racially abusing and bullying Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, who’s Black.
In the report, Meyer-Crothers’ mom alleged that Miller began abusing her son in second grade whereas additionally utilizing repeated racial epithets.
“When I was in eighth grade, I made an extremely poor decision and acted very immaturely,” Miller stated in an announcement launched by the Bruins on Friday. “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.”
“… 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.”
In his assertion, Miller stated he’ll proceed to take part in neighborhood packages to teach himself and share “my mistakes with others to show what a negative impact those actions can have on others.”
Bruins president Cam Neely stated the crew’s hockey operations division and neighborhood relations group hung out with Miller over the previous few weeks to “better understand” who he’s as a person 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,” Neely stated within the assertion. “The expectation is that he will continue this important educational work with personal development and community programs as a member of the Bruins organization.”
NHL Central Scouting ranked Miller because the No. 49 North American skater in its ultimate pre-draft rankings, nevertheless he slid to the fourth spherical as groups knew about his previous.
Days after the Coyotes drafted Miller, the crew stated in an announcement that “it would have been easy” to dismiss him like different groups did, however “we felt it was our responsibility to be a part of the solution in a real way — not just saying and doing the right things ourselves but ensuring that others are too.”
The Coyotes have the NHL’s first Latino proprietor in Alex Meruelo and the league’s first Latino CEO and president in Xavier Gutierrez.
Miller in the end had his draft rights relinquished by the Coyotes lower than a month later. He was additionally launched from his scholarship on the University of North Dakota, the place Miller was enrolled as a freshman.
He sat out the 2020-21 season earlier than returning to play with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm throughout 2021-22. Miller was named the USHL’s Defenseman of the Year and Player of the Year after ending tied for the league lead with 39 objectives whereas additionally having 83 factors — each single-season league information for a defenseman — in 60 video games.
