Bruins’ divorce of Mitchell Miller finalized in February settlement

NHL

By Larry Brooks

July 22, 2023 | 9:06pm

It didn’t go so well for the Bruins when on Nov. 4 they announced they had signed Mitchell Miller to a three-year, entry-level contract.

The blowback was so severe the team two days later was forced to publicly disassociate itself from the 21-year-old, who at age 14 pled guilty to one count of assault and one count of violating the Ohio Safe Schools Act for conducting a series of vile acts in a racially motivated campaign against a developmentally challenged classmate named Isaiah Meyer-Crothers.

Miller, whose rights had previously been renounced by Arizona three weeks after selecting the defenseman in the fourth round of the 2020 draft, was sent home not to play by Boston after originally being assigned to AHL Providence.

He remained under contract, due a $95,000 annual signing bonus on the two-way deal in which he was scheduled to receive 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 per.

Miller remained under contract, that is, until somehow he was not and is not.

Slap Shots learned from an NHL official on Friday that, “He and the Bruins have parted ways.” A Bruins spokesman then told us via email, “Can confirm Mitch Miller is not under contract with the team. Cannot comment further.”

What happened?

Slap Shots has been told the Bruins immediately terminated Miller’s contract in conjunction with their disassociation from him. There is, however, no record of the team placing him on unconditional waivers for the purpose of termination as required by the CBA. Then too, that regulation applies to mutually agreed termination, which this was not.

The NHLPA, in turn, filed a grievance.

We have learned that in lieu of a hearing, the parties reached a settlement under which Boston was released from its obligation while Miller received an unknown sum and was granted free agency.

The agreement was reached in February under the imposition of confidentiality. Its existence was not publicly known until now. Indeed, as of Saturday, Miller was listed on the Bruins’ minor league roster on both CapFriendly and PuckPedia.

It is likely that the defenseman will seek employment in Europe.

The Rangers and GM Chris Drury came out of the gate by signing support forwards such as Nick Bonino, Tyler Pitlick, Alex Belzile and Riley Nash to one- or two-year deals for no more than an AAV of $800,000. These were veterans whose priority to get contracts in a historically tight free-agent market aligned perfectly with the Blueshirts’…