REPORT: Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron admits he did not want Mitchell Miller

Miller, 20, was charged with assault and a violation of the Ohio Safe Schools Act in February of 2016 after he and another student admitted to bullying lsaiah Meyer- Crothers, a Black classmate with a learning disability. Part of that bullying included wiping a piece of candy in a urinal and then tricking Meyer-Crothers into consuming it.

In 2020, Meyer-Crothers told the Arizona Republic that Miller had taunted him for years growing up and called him names like "brownie" and used the "N-word" while repeatedly hitting him. He said it "hurt my heart" when he saw the news that Miller had been drafted by the Coyotes in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, where he was taken 111th overall.

That was the first thing that, I guess, came out of my mouth. [Signing Miller] goes against what we are as a culture and as a team, and for me as a person.