Cam Neely on Sunday announced the Boston Bruins would part ways with Mitchell Miller.
The Bruins president on Monday expounded upon the decision and apologized for Boston signing the 20-year-old defenseman, whose controversial past sparked backlash from fans and raised questions from leaders inside the team’s locker room.
“I’m extremely upset that we made a lot of people unhappy with our decision,” Neely told reporters at Warrior Ice Arena. “I take pride in the Bruins organization and what we stand for. We failed there.”
The Arizona Coyotes selected Miller in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. They later renounced their draft rights after an in-depth report from The Arizona Republic revealed the troubling details of bullying incidents involving Miller.
Neely acknowledged Monday, three days after the Bruins signed Miller, he believes in second chances, but that Boston ultimately decided to rescind its opportunity based on new information. According to Neely, the Bruins did not speak with the victim’s family, an oversight for which he apologized.
“Again, I want to apologize on behalf of the Boston Bruins organization and on behalf of myself,” Neely said. “It was a decision that we didn’t take lightly and I’ll go back to the fact that I felt, based on everything that I knew (at the time), that he deserved a second chance.”
This obviously is a dark cloud over an otherwise successful start to the season for Boston. And Neely, who said he intends to reach out to the victim’s family and work to determine whether anyone in the organization should be disciplined, expressed regret over how everything played out.
“Absolutely,” Neely said when asked if this has been his biggest regret as an executive. “This has been. No question, by far.”
