Don’t expect the Boston Bruins to buy out controversial defenseman Mitchell Miller.
The NHL buyout period began last Friday and will run until June 30, right before NHL free agency begins on July 1. There has been plenty of speculation surrounding Boston Bruins veteran defenseman Mike Reilly and whether or not they will buy out him and the final year of his contract that carries a $3 million salary cap hit. That still could happen, and it won’t be a surprise if and when it does.
One defenseman they won’t be buying out, though, is the troubled Miller, who is the lone blemish on Bruins general manager Don Sweeney’s 2022-23 resume, that could keep him from winning the Jim Gregory Award (NHL GM of the Year), next Monday night in Nashville.
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 came to light in the immediate aftermath. Miller was buried in the organization and returned home to Ohio but remained under contract.
Due to his salary cap being below $1.15 million, his contract did not count against the $82.5 million NHL salary cap this past season and won’t be against the $83.5 million cap this season or next. However, if the Bruins wanted to be completely rid of Miller, they would have to terminate his contract or buy him out. The former would surely result in a grievance being filed by the NHLPA, and per our friends at PuckPedia, the latter would actually activate his cap hit, resulting in a $216,000 cap hit for the next two seasons and then $129,000 for two more after that.
As you may recall, 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 end result was an embarrassing mia culpa by team president Cam Neely, and if not for a record-breaking regular season that seemed to bury the story, the way Miller was buried in the organization, Don Sweeney likely wouldn’t be a finalist for GM of the Year.More must-reads: