BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have hired a law firm led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to review their player vetting process after signing prospect Mitchell Miller and then rescinding his contract offer.
The team announced Tuesday it retained Lynch of the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to conduct an independent review of the process.
Miller, who was convicted of assault in 2016 for bullying a Black classmate with developmental disabilities in middle school, signed an entry-level deal with Boston this month even though the Arizona Coyotes previously relinquished their rights to him after drafting him in 2020.
The Bruins rescinded Miller’s contract offer after facing harsh criticism around the hockey community and from players currently in the NHL. In their latest statement, they pledged to cooperate with Lynch’s investigation and publicly disclose the results of the review when completed.
“We recently fell short of our high standards and disappointed both ourselves and many in our community,” the Bruins said. “Moving forward, we are committed to ensuring that our values are reflected in everything we do as an organization, including our process for vetting future players.”
Bruins President Cam Neely said the team “dropped the ball” in its vetting process in the aftermath of the signing and rescinding fiasco, which still has multiple ways it could get worked out since Miller is technically still under contract and part of the organization until it’s terminated or bought out or there’s a settlement.
Neely said in a statement the Bruins thought Miller’s conduct was an isolated incident and that the team reversed course based on new information – particularly that the team hadn’t spoken to victim Isaiah Meyer-Crothers or his family.
Neely met with Miller, agent Eustace King and Miller’s mother prior to signing him. Neely said he shouldn’t have assumed the vetting process also included a meeting with Meyer-Crothers’ family. Asked why that didn’t happen, Neely said: “It’s a great question. Something I need to find out.”
After the Bruins announced the signing of Miller, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the 20-year-old defenseman would not currently be eligible to play in the league without major changes. Boston players voiced opposition to adding Miller, with veteran forward Nick Foligno saying it was “hard to swallow.”
In a statement released last week by the Hockey Diversity Alliance, Meyer-Crothers said he hasn’t seen any proof Miller has changed his ways. Meyer-Crothers said Miller reached out by text to apologize and to say he was doing community work to help young people.
Lynch was already involved in another high-profile sports matter relating to race. The NFL in February hired her and her firm to defend it and its teams in the race discrimination lawsuit brought by former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores.
The Bruins said retaining Lynch “will help us ensure that our process going forward reflects our core values.”
AS THE BRUINS cruise along at 14-2 and enjoy a three-day break from game action, their five-on-five scoring could improve.
The Bruins are tied for sixth in five-on-five scoring with 37 goals in 16 games and second in five-on-five goals against with 24. But those even-strength strikes haven’t come nearly as easily lately.
The issues started with their 2-1 loss in Toronto back on Nov. 5 when they were shut out at even strength. In their next game, they managed just one – Trent Frederic’s late insurance goal – in the 3-1 victory over St. Louis. In the 3-1 win over Calgary, Charlie McAvoy’s winner late in the second period came four seconds after a Flames’ penalty expired and then David Pastrnak sealed it with an empty netter. They then got a couple of five-on-five goals late to eke out a 3-1 win over Buffalo in a game the Sabres outplayed them for most of the first 40 minutes. Finally, in the 5-2 win over a hapless Vancouver team, they created more chances but still scored just one five-on-five goal.
The Bruins have won four straight since the loss in Toronto, but it was enough of a problem for Coach Jim Montgomery to reunite Pastrnak with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron midway through the Buffalo game in an attempt to ignite the offense. The challenge for Montgomery right now is fighting complacency and the “blind spots” that creep up when a team is rolling while at the same time not chasing an unattainable “perfection.” It’s a balance that must be struck, he said. But he definitely sees room for improvement in the five-on-five attack.
“I don’t think we’re breaking the puck well enough to get speed on the attack,” said Montgomery. “I don’t think our forecheck has been as tight as it needs to be. I think our F1 (first forechecker) is going in and doing a good job. I don’t think F2 and F3 are getting there to get loose pucks. And the last thing is just our puck management, our decisions at the blue line and in the offensive zone once we have possession. I think we’re looking for easy offense versus … teams are going to defend, but the longer you make them defend, the more holes there are going to be and someone’s going to make a mistake. It’s not easy to do because teams are trying to outnumber you in certain situations to deny you possession but we’ve got to come up with a better plan as coaches and giving them where the soft spots are to possess. And players have got to do a better job of winning one-on-on battles that create possessions.”
One of the more anticipated aspects of the 2022-23 season was the return of David Krejci and the possibility of him centering what was hoped to be an explosive line with Taylor Hall and Pastrnak. With the way Montgomery changes his lines, there’s little doubt that we’ll see that trio again, and probably soon. But it wasn’t clicking at the time it was broken up.
JEREMY SWAYMAN, out since suffering a knee injury in Pittsburgh on Nov. 1, returned to practice and Montgomery didn’t rule him out for a return later this week, though more “boxes” needed to be checked. In his absence, Nick Foligno has taken over the postgame hugs with Ullmark, but Swayman revealed that the veteran has been watching out for him in more ways than that.
“I was on the train back to Boston from New York the next day (after the injury) and he texted me for my address. He said ‘My wife made you a ton of food and she’s going to drop it off,’” said Swayman. “And I couldn’t believe it. There was this huge bag of a gallon and a half of homemade chicken soup, 30 turkey meatballs and bunch of peppers and cookies and stuff. It brought me to tears almost. It was really amazing. The character he has, that’s something I’m going to always remember and definitely pass it along my whole career because that’s something I’ll never forget.”
NOTES: Derek Forbort, recovering from surgery on a broken finger he also suffered in that Nov. 1 game, skated before practice but Montgomery said he’s still a long way from playing. … Bergeron and Krejci both took maintenance days on Tuesday.
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