The Boston Bruins confirmed to the New York Post this past Friday that they officially terminated the contract of controversial defenseman Mitchell Miller in February.
“Can confirm Mitch Miller is not under contract with the team. Cannot comment further,” a Bruins media relations representative told Brooks in an email.
An NHL source alerted New York Post and Hall of Fame puck scribe Larry Brooks that the NHLPA had filed a grievance on Miller’s behalf when the Boston Bruins initially attempted to terminate Miller’s contract. Instead of a hearing, all sides involved reached a financial settlement. With that, Miller officially became a free agent again. Per Brooks, a confidentiality agreement kept this quiet from the media until now. Brooks also suggested that Miller will look to play in Europe.
Mitchell Miller was owed a $95,000 annual signing bonus on the two-way deal that carried an NHL base of $750,000 for 2022-23 and $775,000 for the next two years with a minor league salary of $82,500.
Against the better judgment urged by captain Patrice Bergeron and the team’s veteran core, and without – admittedly – doing better due diligence, the Boston Bruins signed the now 21-year-old Miller to a three-year contract with an $861,667 salary cap hit back on November 4. They then ‘parted ways with him two days later after more troublesome allegations surfaced in the immediate aftermath. Miller was buried in the organization and returned home to Ohio but remained under contract.
The Boston Bruins came under intense scrutiny as stories of Miller’s abuse of classmate Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, which the Bruins later claimed they missed in their vetting process, immediately came back to light. Within two days, the Bruins parted ways with Mitchell Miller but never terminated his contract. The Bruins then hired U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch of the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to review their player-vetting process extensively. The result was an embarrassing mia culpa by team president Cam Neely who, to his credit, has continually accepted his fair share of blame in the situation.
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