Hockey

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Saturday that Mitchell Miller isn't eligible to play in the league despite signing an entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins on Friday.

Bettman said the league wasn't consulted before Miller's signing was announced, something he's since discussed with Bruins president Cam Neely, and noted the NHL would have to conduct a full investigation into a previous assault conviction against Miller if the team wanted to promote him from the minor leagues:

#NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on the recent signing of Mitchell Miller by the Boston Bruins. pic.twitter.com/9lOeNSEK5T

— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) November 5, 2022

The commissioner added Miller's ability to play with the Providence Bruins, the club's top affiliate, rests in the hands of the American Hockey League.

Miller was a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2020 draft. The Coyotes renounced his rights in October 2020 after the Arizona Republic reported details from a 2016 conviction of assaulting and bullying a Black classmate with developmental disabilities in Ohio as a juvenile.

On Saturday, the AHL released a statement to Sean Shapiro of The Athletic saying Miller's eligibility is under review by league president Scott Howson.

Both Miller and Neely described the situation as a one-off incident when the 20-year-old defenseman was 14 years old in statements released in coordination with the signing, which contrasts comments by Isaiah Meyer-Crothers and his mother, Joni Meyer-Crothers.

"When I was in eighth grade, I made an extremely poor decision and acted very immaturely," Miller said. "I bullied one of my classmates. I deeply regret the incident and have apologized to the individual. Since the incident, I have come to better understand the far-reaching consequences of my actions that I failed to recognize and understand nearly seven years ago. I strive to be a better person and positively contribute to society. As a member of the Bruins organization, I will continue to participate in community programs to both educate myself and share my mistakes with others to show what a negative impact those actions can have on others. To be clear, what I did when I was 14 years old was wrong and unacceptable. There is no place in this world for being disrespectful to others and I pledge to use this opportunity to speak out against mistreating others."

Neely said the organization spent time with Miller in an attempt to better understand the situation before deciding to move forward with the signing.

"Representing the Boston Bruins is a privilege we take seriously as an organization," Neely said. "Respect and integrity are foundational character traits we expect of our players and staff. Prior to signing Mitchell, our Hockey Operations and Community Relations groups spent time with him over the last few weeks to better understand who he is as an individual and learn more about a significant mistake he made when he was in middle school. During this evaluation period, Mitchell was accountable for his unacceptable behavior and demonstrated his commitment to work with multiple organizations and professionals to further his education and use his mistake as a teachable moment for others. The expectation is that he will continue this important educational work with personal development and community programs as a member of the Bruins organization."

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said the franchise didn't reach out to the victim's family as part of its process, though.

Meyer-Crothers previously described a pattern of assault, bullying and the use of racist terms, including "brownie" and the N-word, by Miller while they were classmates, an account verified by other students, according to the Arizona Republic.

"He pretended to be my friend and made me do things I didn't want to do," Meyer-Crothers said. "In junior high, I got beat up by him. ... Everyone thinks he's so cool that he gets to go to the NHL, but I don't see how someone can be cool when you pick on someone and bully someone your entire life."

In one instance, Miller and another student allegedly wiped a piece of candy on a urinal before tricking Meyer-Crothers into licking it.

The student's mother said the apology referenced by Miller in his statement came via Snapchat and he suggested it wasn't motivated by hockey, per NBC10's Malcolm Johnson and Marc Fortier.

"Well, it has everything to do with hockey," she said.

Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman that Miller's actions go "against what we are as a culture and as a team:"

"I was on the fence."@FriedgeHNIC sat down with Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron and asked him about the team's signing of renounced Coyotes draft pick, Mitchell Miller. pic.twitter.com/3fUHWDJWkc

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 5, 2022

Boston forward Nick Foligno added members of the team were caught off guard by the signing.

"I don't think any guy was too happy," Foligno said Saturday.

The Bruins' next game is scheduled for Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Boston Bruins have signed Mitchell Miller two years after the Arizona Coyotes renounced his draft rights as a result of his history of bullying and racism as a juvenile was brought to light.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney announced Friday that Miller has signed an entry-level contract with the team

Boston president Cam Neely said in the announcement Miller had an evaluation period with the team's hockey operations and community operations departments in which he was "accountable for his unacceptable behavior and demonstrated his commitment to work with multiple organizations and professionals to further his education and use his mistake as a teachable moment for others."

Miller was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL draft by the Coyotes.

Three weeks after the draft, Craig Harris and José M. Romero of the Arizona Republic published a story about Miller in which he admitted in Ohio juvenile court to bullying a Black classmate with developmental disabilities as a high schooler in 2016.

Miller and a classmate were charged with assault and violating the Ohio Safe Schools Act after being accused of making Isaiah Meyer-Crothers eat a piece of candy they wiped in a bathroom urinal.

Speaking to Harris and Romero over the phone, Meyers-Crothers said Miller also called him "brownie" and the "N-word" and hit him.

In a police report obtained by Harris and Romero, some accounts of the incident said Miller and the classmate urinated on the candy before giving it to Meyer-Crothers. Other students at the school confirmed to police Miller used the N-word referring to Meyer-Crothers.

Miller and the other boy involved were sentenced to complete 25 hours of community service, write an apology through the court system to Meyer-Crothers, participate in counseling and pay court costs.

"He pretended to be my friend and made me do things I didn't want to do," Meyer-Crothers told Harris and Romero. "In junior high, I got beat up by him. … Everyone thinks he's so cool that he gets to go to the NHL, but I don't see how someone can be cool when you pick on someone and bully someone your entire life."

Joni Meyer-Crothers, Isaiah's mother, told Harris and Romero that Miller has never personally apologized to her son outside of the court-mandated letter.

Coyotes president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez announced they renounced Miller's rights on Oct. 29, 2020.

Miller, 20, has spent the past two seasons playing for the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League.

After rumors about a potential sale, the Ottawa Senators have officially been put on the market.

Senators Sports & Entertainment released a statement on Friday announcing the NHL franchise is for sale, with the condition that a sale requires the franchise to remain in Ottawa.

Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico reported earlier this week that Senators ownership retained Galatioto Sports Partners to initiate a sale.

Per Ian Mendes of The Athletic, there are "multiple" groups that have shown a willingness to purchase the franchise to keep them in Ottawa.

Mendes also noted potential buyers are "extremely interested in the prospect of a downtown arena at LeBreton Flats."

The Senators reached an agreement with the National Capital Commission and a group of partners in June for a plot of land in LeBreton Flats with the hope of building a new arena.

Anthony LeBlanc, Senators president of business operations, told reporters in September the franchise hopes to follow the blueprint set by the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.

"They’ve done a remarkable job on a small square footage area, which is going to be our challenge," LeBlanc said of the Seattle arena. "It’s a tight site. I wish we had the 27 acres they have in Edmonton, but we don’t. Rogers Arena blew me away by their sheer size. Seattle was a much tighter bowl, which is what we’re leaning towards."

Eugene Melnyk, who died in March at the age of 62, originally purchased the Senators and their arena in August 2003. The franchise is currently owned by his estate.

Ottawa was awarded an NHL franchise in December 1990, with the 1992-93 campaign being its inaugural season.

During Melnyk's ownership tenure, the Senators made the playoffs nine times and won one division title. The franchise's only Stanley Cup Final appearance came during the 2006-07 season.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The first and last question asked after any sports trade is “Who won the deal?”

Nov. 4 will be the one-year anniversary of when the Buffalo Sabres traded Jack Eichel and a conditional third-round pick in 2023 to the Vegas Golden Knights for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick (Noah Östlund), and a 2023 second-round pick. Both teams have to feel good about the returns so far.

Eichel has put up 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 10 games this season. Meanwhile, the Sabres should be thrilled with the haul of young players and picks they received.

That the Sabres can claim success after giving up the best player in the trade shows how well they did. Being handed the reins of a team whose best player wants out isn't ideal, but first-time general manager Kevyn Adams saw it as an opportunity for a fresh start.

"The day that trade was made, 100 percent of my attention and focus was on who we got in the trade and what we need to do here to be better," Adams said. "The reality is, you have to have players that believe in what you're doing as an organization and truly want to be part of it. And those two players in particular [Tuch and Krebs]—and I'll say Noah Östlund because now that we've drafted him—they fit that. And that, to me, was a really important part of this."

For Buffalo, it meant cutting the final ties to an era that began with losing for the purpose to improve lottery chances and jump-start a return to glory with elite talent. Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen were already gone. Moving Eichel to Sin City meant virtually every major tie to the pre-Adams regimes was cut.

The Sabres were no longer putting the hopes of returning to the postseason for the first time since 2011—and the dreams of winning the Stanley Cup—all on the back of one player. Eichel was a dynamo capable of swinging a game by himself.

That approach didn’t work for the Sabres, though, because they lacked depth all over the roster. Instead, they decided to try assembling a more complete team, and Tuch gave them the spark they needed in the face of extreme change.

Tuch is a power forward the likes of which the Sabres haven’t had in ages. Nothing excites a Buffalo crowd more than a guy who can crunch opponents along the boards and fill the net.

"Something that he brings that's a little different is just as his size and his strength," teammate Tage Thompson said. "He's a beast out there, and combined with his speed, I think it catches a lot of people by surprise. They think they’ve got a lot more time with the puck and then he's right on you, which is good for us because we get the puck back quicker and then we get to go play offense."

In 50 games with the Sabres last season, Tuch had 12 goals and 38 points. He's off to a hot start this season, as he's tied with Thompson, Victor Olofsson and Rasmus Dahlin for the team lead in goals with six. He’s third on the team in points with nine, behind Thompson and Dahlin (12).

That’s the kind of impact the Sabres hoped he would provide with more ice time and opportunities than he had in Vegas.

"(Tuch) is clearly a player that other guys identify within the locker room as already a great, elite talent in the NHL, and the potential to be extremely impactful where we envision he can get to, that's clear and evident," Sabres head coach Don Granato said. "It's nice to have another player that comes in with that talent and that experience and still feels like a young guy. That's a great combination of everything."

In Vegas, Tuch was a young player in a sea of outstanding skilled veterans. The move to Buffalo turned him into one of the Sabres' most experienced veteran players at age 26.

"I was the youngest guy on the team (in Vegas), or at least when it came to games played, so I was pretty much a rookie for three years," Tuch said. "Now, it's crazy to be in the upper echelon in age on a team and you have all these younger guys below you."

Fans took to Tuch’s on-ice leadership immediately, and his teammates were right there with them. What’s more, neither Adams nor Granato asked him to adjust his affable, gregarious and fun-loving nature to act more like a leader.

It turns out that having him be himself is the exact kind of leader they needed. How he carries himself is infectious.

"He's a great guy," Thompson said. "He's always in a good mood, so whether you're having a good or a bad day coming to the rink, he's always buzzing around. So it's good for the atmosphere in the room, and I think that translates onto the ice as well."

The addition of Krebs provided Buffalo with another offensively gifted player. Not since 2006 have the Sabres had so many young, skilled players, each of whom has distinct talents.

The 21-year-old Krebs' passing and vision is what allows him to stand out among the snipers, danglers and net crashers.

"That's a guy that no matter where I put him, on wing or at center, anybody and everybody's excited that he's on his line," Granato said. "They just believe that he can get them the puck, that he's going to make plays. And he's a fun guy to play with because he's creative."

Buffalo's lack of secondary scoring behind Eichel was glaring whenever he didn't produce. If he had an off night, the Sabres were virtually doomed to lose.

That’s no longer a problem. They can spread the wealth among a few lines.

"One of the things that we spent a lot of time working on was, how do we make sure any deal we make is looking at the long term, not doing something reactionary, or with a short-term focus," Adams said. "That's why it was so critical for us in that deal with Alex that he's in the prime of his career and he had term on his contract. You get Peyton, who's in his first year of an entry-level [contract] that we think is going to be a really good player for us, and he has been, and he will continue to get better."

Minding the here and now as well as down the road is the key point of what it means to be an NHL general manager. The Sabres as previously constructed weren’t in position to immediately challenge for the Stanley Cup.

Right now, things are trending up. The Sabres are 6-3-0 with 12 points through nine games. It took them 11 games to reach 12 points last season.

They're taking baby steps, but with huge leaps in progress for their most important players.

"It's exciting to be part of something that's getting better every day," Krebs said. "It's been a lot of fun, and I'm excited to see where we go from here."