Update: Mitchell Miller “remains under contract with the Bruins”

Unless you decided to retreat from social media this past weekend, you've no doubt heard about the soap opera drama courtesy of the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins announced on Friday that they had signed former renounced NHL draft pick Mitchell Miller... only to walk that signing back on Sunday after MASSIVE backlash from fans, media and their own players. Miller, of course, has been accused and convicted of abusing a mentally handicapped boy that he went to high school with in 2016.

Miller was found delinquent in Ohio court on charges of assault and found guilty of bullying disabled African-American classmate Isaiah Meyer-Crothers. The real problem though, from my perspective, is that Miller doesn't appear to have shown any true remorse for his actions. He has filed a court-ordered apology and has completed his court-ordered community service, but the Meyer-Crothers family maintains that they have never received an apology and that Miller is not remorseful in the least. Miller's agent provided a list of non-profit initiatives that Miller has volunteered his time with, but most if not all of those organizations have refuted the agent's claims. In other words... there's not much evidence that Miller has learned his lesson at all. 

As a result, the Bruins released him just 48 hours into his contract. Or did they?

ESPN NHL insider Greg Wyshynski reports that Miller is in fact STILL a member of the Bruins and has not had his contract terminated. As a result he has been sent to the Bruins' AHL affiliate Providence Bruins and... well... it's not exactly clear what happens next.

From Wyshynski:

As of Tuesday, Miller remains under contract with the Bruins and is assigned to AHL Bruins. There are a couple of scenarios regarding what happens next, now that the NHL team has walked away from him.

The Bruins could simply decide to pay Miller to stay home for this season and then buy him out at the end of the year for one-third of his NHL salary.

The Bruins could work with Miller, agent Eustace King and the NHLPA on a settlement that would allow him to become a free agent. While Miller is in the AHL, this would fall under NHLPA jurisdiction.

But if the Bruins or the NHL sought to terminate the contract because of Miller’s history, a source tells ESPN that the NHLPA would be expected to file a grievance. Same goes for any kind of multi-year suspension to essentially nullify the contract.

Things are still settling after a tense weekend. There's been little discussion between the Bruins, NHL and NHLPA in the aftermath. But expect the action to potentially pick up by later in the week.

- Greg Wyshynski

Okay so... when Bruins president Cam Neely announced that the team and Miller had mutually decided to terminate the contract, that must not have been true.

Honestly... what a giant clusterfuck for the Bruins.

Not only did they get some horrendous PR out of this entire fiasco, but now they're going to be on the hook for a contract buyout this offseason. Just a complete dropping off the ball from Neely and the entire Bruins front office.