Mitchell Miller Openly Discusses Incident Got Him Dropped in the NHL After Signing New Deal

PUBLICATION

TJ Tucker
November 25, 2023 (8:59)

SHARE THIS STORY

The cat is finally out of the bag. After weeks of speculation, Mitch Miller has officially signed a contract with Ak Bars of the KHL. In an interview in Russia, he openly discussed the incident that got him dropped by two NHL teams.

Miller was initially drafted by Arizona in 2020, but promptly dropped after details of his past became public. He and a classmate bullied a developmentally disabled African American classmate when he was 14. Two years later, Miller was signed by Boston. Again, he was dropped after backlash from the public. In an interview in Russia, Miller said he still regrets what happened.

"This guy was actually one of my friends in my class. We had common friends that we spent a lot of time with. We played soccer together, spent a lot of time together since we were kids. It all happened at a high school basketball game. We did a really bad thing to the guy, hurt him, bullied him, which I regret to this day. At the time we didn't think about how cruel, wrong and stupid it was."

Miller also claimed the media made him out to be a monster during the trial.

"Then they wrote that I looked indifferent in court. But at the age of 14, being in court after all these proceedings is also hard. I probably didn't even realize what was going on at the time. I stood there and didn't know what to say, I just froze. It was a very difficult moment for me and for the whole family."

"Some media wrote that I did not apologize, although I apologized several times in court in person and in writing. If I had the opportunity to go back and change the situation, of course I would. I'm 22 in a month, it's been eight years, and it's still hard for me, I still want to change things."

Miller said when he signed in Boston, he did a lengthy interview explaining what had happened and how he still regrets it. That video never came out before he was dropped from his entry-level contract. Miller had been playing in the Slovak Extraliga before signing in Russia. He was the league's top scorer.

Source: Championat.com