Bruins sign controversial prospect Mitchell Miller

Rolling along with a 10-1 record, the Bruins’ Good Ship Lollipop hit some very choppy waters of their own making on Friday.

The B’s announced their decision to sign 20-year-old free agent defenseman Mitchell Miller, a player with a deeply disturbing history, albeit it when he was in his mid-teens.

Miller was convicted in a juvenile court in Ohio of bullying a Black, disabled classmate, actions that included tricking Isiah Meyer-Crothers into licking candy push pop that Miller and another student had placed in a urinal. Miller also repeatedly called the victim racial slurs.

The transgressions were enough for the Arizona Coyotes, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2020, to renounce their rights (though the club was aware of Miller’s history at the time of drafting) and the University of North Dakota to yank a scholarship offer.

GM Don Sweeney, who often speaks about the character that runs through the organization from captain Patrice Bergeron on down, admitted in a Zoom call that he went through a personal and professional struggle over whether to sign the player, who reported to Providence, but ultimately decided move forward and take the blow-back that he knew was coming.

Sweeney not only grappled with the moral implications of signing the player, but also those of not signing him. And he still is.

“Personally, this has been a struggle over what is right and what is wrong and I can’t categorically tell you that this is the absolute right decision,” said Sweeney. “This is an opportunity that we’re providing for a young man who is going to continue to work to earn trust and respect as each and everyone of us do every day. My own personal judgment on this wasn’t the final say. It was just part of the equation of having spent time with him and having a clear understanding of the direction that he would like to take his life in. I felt that if other teams were willing to give him a chance … I think we all have to look in the mirror and say, ‘Why wouldn’t we be willing to give him a chance?’ I’ve also come to the understanding that I don’t think forgiveness is part of this, because if this happened to one of my own children, I can’t categorically say that I would have. But I also would applaud someone that if they’re willing to welcome someone back for a second chance. And you’ve got to walk that walk.”

Sweeney said Miller had reached out to the victim to apologize – something that the family did not feel he had come close to sufficiently doing at the time of the draft. Contacted by WBZ-TV, the victim’s mother, Joni Meyer-Crothers said that, aside from a court-mandated letter at the time of the incident, Miller reached out to her son via Instagram in the last week. She does not feel that proper, sincere amends have been made.

“For somebody to refer to it as a mistake, what my son endured, is infuriating,” said Meyer-Crothers.

Sweeney said he had not reached out to the victim or his family in the vetting process. While he may hope that Mitchell is redeemable as a person and player, Sweeney did not make the case that the details of his behavior as a teenager were.

“I don’t think it was necessary to hear both sides (though) I think we take Isiah’s side that this event happened and the culpability lies 100 percent with Mitchell. And he needs to live with that to have a better understanding that he needs to respect people,” said Sweeney.

From a hockey standpoint, Miller, a 5-10, 190-pound puck moving defenseman, is a good prospect. In 60 games with the Tri-City Storm last season, he had 39-44-83 totals, enough to make him the USHL’s MVP. One amateur scout told the Herald on Friday that he had the skill to have been a first-rounder in his draft year if not for his history.

Even so, Sweeney acknowledged “the easier decision would have been to walk away.”

The GM said he leaned on his upbringing – his father was a high school administrator – in making the decision.

“(He) suspended kids throughout his professional life, but always welcomed them back if they were willing to abide by the rules and continue to move forward in their life, because it was about opportunity and it wasn’t about punishment,” said Sweeney. “Mitchell’s paid the punishment and he’s going to continue to carry that for the rest of his life. And we’re going to hold him to that standard, that each and every one of us …(have to) respect others and have to be unilaterally inclusive.”

Miller spoke with New England Hockey Journal reporter Mark Divver after his first practice with the Providence Bruins on Friday. He said a couple of other teams showed interest.

“I think it’s a huge opportunity 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. “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.”

Sweeney said that he spoke with the club’s current leadership, some of whom Miller most likely won’t get a chance to play with, considering he’s still got a long way to prove that he’s an NHL player. Sweeney conceded that they had the same initial reaction that many fans have had – why?

But Sweeney reiterated that Miller will have a short rope.

“I might have been the person who picked him at the airport when he arrived in Boston,” said Sweeney, “and I’ll be the first person to drive him to the airport if anything goes sideways.”

 

 

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/9yKV7vh