Prospect Info: 2020 Draft #111 - Mitchell Miller (RHD) [Mod Warning post #312]

[The Feckless Puck]

No team in this league is that stupid.

I wouldn't go that far at all.

 

[Alberta Yote]

Maybe the team should still help him find the resources to become a better person and still take a vested interest in his future. Even if they have no official ties to him ever again.

 

[rt]

No team in this league is that stupid.

LOL - I see what you did there!

But joking aside, of course he could secure an NHL contract. If in two years, he's leading the nation in scoring from the blueline and can show that he's spent the last six years (a third of his entire life) being a model citizen and anti-bullying, anti-racism champion, he'll have have 30 of the 31 teams in the NHL falling all over themselves to offer him a contract.

But that's a VERY BIG IF

 

[rt]

Maybe the team should still help him find the resources to become a better person and still take a vested interest in his future. Even if they have no official ties to him ever again.

You're a decent human being, AY. This is what a principled person with integrity would think to do. I'm sure the Coyotes will just pretend he never existed because he's not their problem any longer.

 

[BigJCaRoach]

At some point, KIDS who bully and/or commit racist acts have to be given an opportunity to show they can be good ADULTS.

Scarlet lettering, canceling their hard work and opportunities and shaming them into their basement seems like it will only further that kid’s negativity along. Eh?

 

[Alberta Yote]

LOL - I see what you did there!

But joking aside, of course he could secure an NHL contract. If in two years, he's leading the nation in scoring from the blueline and can show that he's spent the last six years (a third of his entire life) being a model citizen and anti-bullying, anti-racism champion, he'll have have 30 of the 31 teams in the NHL falling all over themselves to offer him a contract.

But that's a VERY BIG IF

I'm sure you're right. And I still hope that he finds a way to turn his head around in a real and meaningful way. The fact that to this day he has never reached out to the kid or family leaves me little hope though.

 

[FinnishCoyote]

Joke organisation

 

[rt]

Team hires 26 year old, boy-wonder stats GM
He makes a mess of things
Trades a 1st and a 3rd for a lost rental
Gets caught cheating and loses a 1st and 2nd
Runs away and gets called a liar and quitter (not to mention cheater)
Team doesn't have a pick until #111
Picks the ONLY kid in the draft convicted of torture
Team pretends they did so as part of an altruistic project to save society
Twitter gets mad
Team renounces the pick
Congratulations Carson Bantle on being the NEW 2020 1st pick at #142!!!

 

[Jamieh]

At some point, KIDS who bully and/or commit racist acts have to be given an opportunity to show they can be good ADULTS.

Scarlet lettering, canceling their hard work and opportunities and shaming them into their basement seems like it will only further that kid’s negativity along. Eh?

A very reasonable thought. Some would like this kid to be blacklisted for life, I don't get that??

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Team hires 26 year old, boy-wonder stats GM
He makes a mess of things
Trades a 1st and a 3rd for a lost rental
Gets caught cheating and loses a 1st and 2nd
Runs away and gets called a liar and quitter (not to mention cheater)
Team doesn't have a pick until #111
Picks the ONLY kid in the draft convicted of torture
Team pretends they did so as part of an altruistic project to save society
Twitter gets mad
Team renounces the pick
Congratulations Carson Bantle on being the NEW 2020 1st pick at #142!!!

You want to know something?

This isn't even the worst timeline we've had in this franchise's terrible history.

 

[Alberta Yote]

Team hires 26 year old, boy-wonder stats GM
He makes a mess of things
Trades a 1st and a 3rd for a lost rental
Gets caught cheating and loses a 1st and 2nd
Runs away and gets called a liar and quitter (not to mention cheater)
Team doesn't have a pick until #111
Picks the ONLY kid in the draft convicted of torture
Team pretends they did so as part of an altruistic project to save society
Twitter gets mad
Team renounces the pick
Congratulations Carson Bantle on being the NEW 2020 1st pick at #142!!!

Still Carson, get that degree. Chances are you will need it.

 

[rt]

I'm sure you're right. And I still hope that he finds a way to turn his head around in a real and meaningful way. The fact that to this day he has never reached out to the kid or family leaves me little hope though.

Now that he's not part of the team and I don't have to be accused of being a homer for having opinions or even just notions I'm entertaining and trying to decide how I feel about, I want to bring this up:

The kid who cried in court was friends with IMC previously. Maybe that's why everyone felt it was okay to do that. Perhaps Miller's camp just felt it was inappropriate for Miller to do the same, given that he was tormentor-in-chief and had no affection whatsoever for the victim, unlike McKie. Instead, those adults around Miller tell him to send the apology letter as mandated by the court. Then very reasonably, they demand he avoid ALL contact with the MC family. This is fairly plausible.

After that he pretty quickly moves from Ohio to Michigan, then from Michigan to Iowa, then from Iowa to Nebraska, and then from Nebrask to North Dakota. In the meantime, he's gone from being 14 to being 18. Easy to see how he'd have maybe just turned the damn page at that point. Miller feeling like it was behind him, while the MC family didn't feel like it was behind them, is all pretty reasonable, I think.

Again, there's at least as good of a chance that Miller just never gave a f***.

 

[Prarievarg]

Really hope Miller did some new stupid stuff or showed to still be a racist asshole between all those XG quotes and todays decision to release him. Otherwise this looks really bad.

Right decision, horrible timing.

 

[GhostofTommyBolin]

I hope Miller never skates a shift in the NHL. He only apologized to 31 NHL teams because he knew his career depended on it. I hope no team takes a chance on him again.

But I also hope he gets help. That shit he did is not normal in any capacity. It's not "normal" bullying, which is also wrong; it's sociopath-level shit, especially when he shows very little remorse about it.

Sometimes in life, you come across people that are just assholes. That's how they're wired even thought they've never struggled a day in their life. I don't know if this kid is one of those , but my guess is there's something deeper that made him do those things. I hope he gets the help he needs to figure it out and overcome it, and I hope he becomes a staunch advocate for kindness and a poster boy for anti-bullying. He can do that without playing a shift in the NHL.

 

[ClydeLee]

Really hope Miller did some new stupid stuff or showed to still be a racist asshole between all those XG quotes and todays decision to release him. Otherwise this looks really bad.

Right decision, horrible timing.

The mom's letter that saying he never apologized to them or that he still taunted him 2 years ago is what came out though. (and maybe the Judges comments during his ruling? I'm not sure if those were out already or not.)

Was he open and upfront about that or did he say it all ended after that big situation that got a court involvement.

 

[KG]

Lol I thought we were getting competent leadership. The fact they went back on this is even worse.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Really hope Miller did some new stupid stuff or showed to still be a racist asshole between all those XG quotes and todays decision to release him. Otherwise this looks really bad.

Right decision, horrible timing.

It could be as simple as the Coyotes only knowing about the push-pop urinal incident and not knowing about either the years of abuse preceding it, or the taunting that followed two years afterward.

But I suspect that, while the above may eminently be true and believable given the chaos that naturally accompanies anything a Coyotes front office does, the XG quotes preceding the renunciation were a pointedly crafted campaign to turn the Coyotes into a white knight after totally underestimating the backlash they'd get for drafting the kid.

I'll tell you, though, as rightfully vitriolic we should be at Gutierrez, our true outrage should be directed at the Coyotes' scouting department. In our rush to debate this pick, we forget that the same assholes were responsible for putting us in the position of making Miller our top pick in the first place. We talk about the basic rottenness of our dressing room, but even that country club can't hold a candle to the absolute malfeasance of our scouting apparatus.

Here's hoping Armstrong and Plandowski eviscerate that gaggle of boneheads.

 

[XX]

Really hope Miller did some new stupid stuff or showed to still be a racist asshole between all those XG quotes and todays decision to release him. Otherwise this looks really bad.

Right decision, horrible timing.

They learned new info and dropped him. I am assuming some blanks were filled in and they were not to the liking of the organization, if BA even wanted the pick at all to begin with.

From the article RT posted but was omitted:

A head scout for one team said once they dug into Miller’s story, they immediately scratched him off their draft list.
“We would not have taken him after the background checks our USA guys did on him,” he said. “We always say when we draft somebody, we want somebody at our table who’s really excited about drafting the guy and nobody from our U.S. staff wanted anything to do with this guy, so we just took him off our list. He’s a decent player, but all the background and history on him said red flag.”

What were the Coyotes thinking when they drafted Mitchell Miller?

It's an embarrassing look because they didn't do their due diligence and just spun some performative yarn to try and waive away criticism.

Here's hoping Armstrong and Plandowski eviscerate that gaggle of boneheads.

It's Jankowski's pick. They really have nobody to blame but themselves.

Lol I thought we were getting competent leadership. The fact they went back on this is even worse.

They might have learned new details. The team is claiming as much. I have no problem with it. A show of drafting incompetence but it's the right thing in the end.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

The witch is burned! Onto the next outrage! No redemption for anyone!

....aaaaand that's why this thread is finally going on my ignore list. do not care.

 

[AZviaNJ]

Puck is in UND's end now.....what will they do?

 

[XX]

Puck is in UND's end now.....what will they do?

Alumni already wanted his scholarship offer pulled and you can't really blame them.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

It's Jankowski's pick. They really have nobody to blame but themselves.

If Jankowski was the one who rubber-stamped it, then if I were Armstrong I'd have the guy's bags packed for him already. It certainly also adds a little flavor to the fact that the Sabres canned him in June, doesn't it?

 

[Coyotedroppings]

YThe WRONG decision was doubling down on the pick as recently a few days ago. XG coming out and saying they’ll work with him

I thought that was a stupid decision when I read it. I would have simply stated he's done as the court directed and we believe he's reformed.

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

Whoever is responsible for this pick should be out the door immediately. As if this organization wasn’t already in the shit, things just keep getting worse.

 

[XX]

If Jankowski was the one who rubber-stamped it, then if I were Armstrong I'd have the guy's bags packed for him already. It certainly also adds a little flavor to the fact that the Sabres canned him in June, doesn't it?

It's a very bad look for the entire organization other than Plandowksi. I would like to think BA is savy enough to understand drafting this kid was not worth the trouble, and would have avoided him if it was his call. I would also like to think Jankowski is smart enough to pick someone else, and was a good hire by BA and not just someone he's comfy with. We don't know how much say Sullivan had in this either, he might end up holding the hot potato. Someone should go down for this.

I'd be very pissed if I was an owner cutting checks to a new regime and this was their first move.

It's like the Coyotes are powered by drama and dysfunction. They had a relatively smooth and normal summer, now this shit.