The Boston Bruins have terminated Mitchell Miller’s contract after the National Hockey League ruled him ineligible to join the team due to a bullying incident the player was involved in as a young teenager.
The decision, announced Sunday, is effective immediately, just days after the Bruins on Friday signed Miller to an entry-level contract. The about-face comes after new information was revealed apparently related to bullying, which at one point led to serious consequences when the player was at school.
Miller at 14 was convicted of a bullying incident where he and another teenager were accused of tricking their black classmate Isaiah Meyers-Crothers into eating candy placed in a urinal, a report from the Arizona Republic revealed.
Miller and another teenager admitted to the bullying in Ohio juvenile court and were sentenced to community service, according to the Republic.
In explaining the decision to initially sign the now 20-year-old Miller, Boston Bruins president Cam Neely said the team had carefully reviewed the facts as they knew them, “that at 14 he made a bad decision that resulted in a juvenile conviction.”
“We understood that this was an isolated incident and that he had taken meaningful action to reform and was committed to continued personal development. Based on that understanding, we offered him a contract,” Neely said.
After new information came to light, the team decided it was in their best interest to cancel the opportunity. The team’s announcement did not detail that information.
“We hope he will continue to work with professionals and programs to further his education and personal development,” Neely said.
Neely also apologized to Meyers-Crothers and his family for the signing as well as members of the organization, fans, partners and the community.
“To Isaiah and his family, I am deeply sorry if this signature has made you and other victims feel invisible and unheard. We apologize for the deep hurt and impact we caused,” Neely said. “We will continue to stand against bullying and racism in all its forms.”
Neely added, “Finally, as a father, I think there’s a lesson to be learned here for other young people. Watch out for careless behaviors and follow the group mentality of hurting others. The impact can be felt for a lifetime.”
The Bruins did not consult with the league before signing Miller, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Saturday, calling what Miller did as a 14-year-old “reprehensible” and “unacceptable.”
“He’s not coming to the NHL. He is not eligible at this time to enter the NHL. I can’t tell you that he’s ever going to be eligible to come into the NHL,” Bettman said while speaking at the NHL Global Series in Tampere, Finland.
“So the answer is that they were free to sign him to play somewhere else, that’s a matter for another league, but nobody should believe at this point that he is or can ever be NHL eligible. And the Bruins understand that now,” Bettman added.
The Arizona Coyotes drafted him in 2020, and the team later revoked his rights after the Republic’s report revealed the bullying conviction.
CNN reached out to Miller’s office for comment and did not immediately hear back.
When the Bruins originally signed Miller, the team released a statement from the player in which he said, “When I was in eighth grade, I made an extremely bad decision and acted very immaturely.”
“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 almost seven years ago,” he said. “To be clear, what I did when I was 14 was wrong and unacceptable. There is no place in this world to disrespect others and I pledge to use this opportunity to speak out against the mistreatment of others.”
