NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made it clear that there's no guarantee Mitchell Miller would ever play in the league after the Boston Bruins signed him to an entry-level contract Friday.
"What he did as a 14-year-old is reprehensible, unacceptable," Bettman said during his media availability Saturday at the Global Series in Finland, per DNVR Sports' Jesse Montano. "Before the Bruins made the decision to sign him, we were not consulted.
"I happened to talk to (Bruins president) Cam Neely since the time that he was signed. He's not coming into the NHL, he's not eligible at this point to come into the NHL. I can't tell you that he'll ever be eligible to come into the NHL."
Miller admitted in court in 2016 to bullying Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, a Black developmentally disabled classmate who grew up with him in Ohio, according to the Arizona Republic's Craig Harris and Jose M. Romero. Meyer-Crothers said Miller frequently called him the N-word and "brownie" during years of harassment.
In one of the incidents, Miller and another classmate tricked Meyer-Crothers into eating a piece of candy they had wiped along the inside of a urinal. Meyer-Crothers had to be tested for hepatitis, HIV, and STDs.
The Arizona Coyotes initially selected Miller in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft but renounced his rights shortly after learning more about the "impact" his actions had on the Meyer-Crothers family.
In the Bruins' press release announcing the signing, Miller said he is striving "to be a better person and positively contribute to society."
But Bettman said he "would need to see a whole bunch of things and understand a lot more" before considering Miller's status.
"If, in fact, at some point, (the Bruins) think they want him to play in the NHL - and I'm not sure that they're anywhere close to that point - we're going to have to clear him and his eligibility," Bettman said.
"It'll be based on all the information that we get firsthand at the time. … They were free to sign him to play somewhere else - that's another league's issue - but nobody should think, at this point, he is or may ever be NHL-eligible. And the Bruins understand that now."
The initial plan was for Miller to report to the AHL's Providence Bruins on Nov. 4, but the league said it is still mulling over the situation.
"Per our bylaws, any player under suspension to another league who seeks to play in the AHL would have the matter reviewed by the president to determine his eligibility," the AHL told reporter Sean Shapiro.
On Friday, general manager Don Sweeney said some of the Bruins players asked why the team signed Miller, according to WEEI's Scott McLaughlin.
Bruins forward Nick Foligno elaborated on some of his teammates' hesitancies Saturday.
"It was a tough thing to hear for our group. I'm not going lie to you," he said, according to the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan. "I don't think any guy was too happy because of how proud we are to say that this is a group that cares a lot about ourselves and how we carry ourselves and how we treat people."
Captain Patrice Bergeron echoed some of Foligno's comments.
"If it's the same 14-year-old walking into this locker room, he would not be accepted and wanted and welcomed," he said, per Koshan. "Our culture is not going to change. It's something that I am proud of. We don't need to change that. The changes are from the individual himself."
