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

[The Feckless Puck]

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.

That certainly would have been better than quadrupling down on the whole deal like XG did.

 

[Alberta Yote]

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

Over under on how many days until they also "denounce" him is at 1.

 

[cromag27]

it was four years ago. this is 100% pr move. if he can help us win games, i don’t care. besides there are plenty of criminals in the nfl. this kid can’t move past something that happened FOUR YEARS ago?

 

[CLW]

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.

That's the first thing I said when this kid was drafted. I don't want heads to roll for the sake of it, but the stupidity and callousness needed to make this pick in the first place is just such a gigantic self own, on top of the other things wrong with it, I'm almost lost for words.

Thank heavens sanity finally prevailed and the Coyotes rectified this mistake, at least partly, by renouncing the pick.

 

[Canuck Luck]

it was four years ago. this is 100% pr move. if he can help us win games, i don’t care. besides there are plenty of criminals in the nfl. this kid can’t move past something that happened FOUR YEARS ago?

Apparently he bullied the kid again 2 years ago. 2 years after his court case where the judge felt he hadn’t learned anything. Would you be saying the same thing had this kid done it to yours? Don’t think so

 

[RemoAZ]

it was four years ago. this is 100% pr move. if he can help us win games, i don’t care. besides there are plenty of criminals in the nfl. this kid can’t move past something that happened FOUR YEARS ago?

I'm sure they were thinking, let's take a chance on this kid since he's rated a lot higher than our first damn pick. That took balls. Then they remembered we're the Coyotes. We have no balls.

 

[Jamieh]

Apparently he bullied the kid again 2 years ago. 2 years after his court case where the judge felt he hadn’t learned anything. Would you be saying the same thing had this kid done it to yours? Don’t think so

I don't think that has been proven.

 

[PJ817]

So the mom bullies the organization into renouncing the pick

Making sure that people know his behavior has not stopped is NOT bullying. I don't remember seeing her demand the org do anything but acknowledge the kid's recent past behavior.

That her letter was picked up by reporters, reddit, twitter, insta, etc etc etc is NOT bullying. IF any or everything she detailed was FALSE then, it would be bullying.

As for the kid? He needs help now for his past behavior and to get as "right" as he can in the head AND for his future. IF UND should release him, that would be imo a mistake. He needs time to show he has or will change... that he's acknowledged he will be a better person.

How? Start a fund to educate people on what bullying is and is not, how to stop bullying (realistically not the "turn the other cheek" b.s.); volunteer in shelters, anything that shows he has some shred of decency to him and is redeemable.

AND FOR FREAK'S SAKE: apologize to the family and the son directly - own the b.s. he did... promise to be better

Everyone was bullied in high school (or earlier). I was. Pricker bushes in the hair, shoved into lockers; tomatoes thrown at me; house egged; taunted. Worst was probably the centipedes some bish put in my pants as she sat behind me in lit class. All that is just stupid teenager crap.

What Miller did to the disabled kid? Sociopathic - like he thought of the worst things he could do to a defenseless kid and then did them.

 

[Alberta Yote]

Apparently he bullied the kid again 2 years ago. 2 years after his court case where the judge felt he hadn’t learned anything. Would you be saying the same thing had this kid done it to yours? Don’t think so

But he was 16. Who hasn't harrased a kid 2 years after being convicted of assaulting the same kid when we were only 16?

I jest. Sort of.

Now also done with this thread.

 

[CLW]

I'm sure they were thinking, let's take a chance on this kid since he's rated a lot higher than our first damn pick. That took balls. Then they remembered we're the Coyotes. We have no balls.

It didn't take any balls to pick him, it just took stupidity. Don't confuse the two.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Yeah, it seems like this should be locked. If we want to continue bashing the Coyotes' front office, we have plenty of other open threads to do that in...

 

[XX]

I'm sure they were thinking, let's take a chance on this kid since he's rated a lot higher than our first damn pick. That took balls. Then they remembered we're the Coyotes. We have no balls.

It was stupid to pick him and stupid to double down when they were probably operating with incomplete information. It was smart to kick him to the curb. Balls never played into it.

Bullies ironically enough love to talk about macho posturing concepts like 'balls'

 

[Chootoi]

Not defending anyone here, but is it possible the order came from the NHL? Would explain the all of a sudden change of heart. Story was starting to get national news and a real bad rich white kid priviledge look for the league. They surely don’t want that right now (the league).

it’s not like the league hasn’t pressured like this before ie John Scott to Montreal a week before the all star game.

 

[TheLegend]

Just scanning through this. Kind of surprised that nobody even mentioned the possibility that the decision to renounce Miller came directly from Alex Meruelo.

That certainly would have been better than quadrupling down on the whole deal like XG did.

At that time he may have been working under different parameters. The sentence above changes all that.

 

[Jamieh]

Hope we all stay consistent with that no 2nd chances motto I keep reading here but somehow I doubt it will apply to everyone going forward.

 

[TheLegend]

Yeah, it seems like this should be locked. If we want to continue bashing the Coyotes' front office, we have plenty of other open threads to do that in...

Or everyone could just exhibit some self discipline and stop posting.

 

[XX]

Not defending anyone here, but is it possible the order came from the NHL? Would explain the all of a sudden change of heart. Story was starting to get national news and a real bad rich white kid priviledge look for the league. They surely don’t want that right now (the league).

it’s not like the league hasn’t pressured like this before ie John Scott to Montreal a week before the all star game.

All the same reasons the league would want him gone were probably shared by Meruelo. This is not what the organization needed right now. He should be upset. I would be very surprised if nobody falls on a sword over this.

 

[CLW]

I don't think there were any orders from 'above'. The Coyotes saw the reaction, finally realized the scope of their screw up and acted.

Heads will roll within the organization no doubt. Reputation damaged again... marketing and sales may well be affected, scouting is under a black cloud, trust issues and so on.

 

[BUX7PHX]

XG said this three days ago:

Coyotes president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez said the team did not run away from selecting Miller.

"Our fundamental mission is to ensure a safe environment -- whether in schools, in our community, in hockey rinks, or in the workplace -- to be free of bullying and racism. When we first learned of Mitchell's story, it would have been easy for us to dismiss him -- many teams did. Instead, we felt it was our responsibility to be a part of the solution in a real way -- not just saying and doing the right things ourselves but ensuring that others are too.

"Given our priorities on diversity and inclusion, we believe that we are in the best position to guide Mitchell into becoming a leader for this cause and preventing bullying and racism now and in the future. As an organization, we have made our expectations very clear to him. We are willing to work with Mitchell and put in the time, effort, and energy and provide him with the necessary resources and platform to confront bullying and racism. This isn't a story about excuses or justifications. It's a story about reflection, growth, and community impact. A true leader finds ways for every person to contribute to the solution. We all need to be a part of the solution."

Gutierrez is a member of the league's Executive Inclusion Council, which is charged with fighting racism and increasing diversity in hockey.

---

It's now abundantly clear that he meant absolutely none of it. Utterly empty words. That means this statement was a complete and total lie. Just damage control. And when it didn't have the desired result, they tucked tail and ran away. Absolutely pathetic.

They have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt this week that they are liars and quitters. They used those words not long ago to describe someone else. Who knew how prophetic they'd end up being. The Meruelo group are liars and quitters.

I'm beyond disgusted by this.

Wasn't this pronounced about someone else?

I think that he should have been on the DND list. Again, this is about what types of decisions you are likely to make. Not just on ice, but off ice. It would also make me question whether or not the player had the judgment skills to do the right thing on the ice, even if as simple as an ill-timed pinch.

My concern is that you were talking about how there would not be any issue with Bill Armstrong not being in charge of this draft, and that the people in place (Jankowski, et al) were allegedly solid enough that Armstrong could trust them. This doesn't sound like this is the case anymore.

I think there is another interview that Armstrong has done where he stated that he likes to see how devoted scouts are to arguing for the player that they want. I think he conveyed the story as being, "if it's in the 5th round, I am going to go with the scout that is fighting the hardest for their player. Because if they are willing to fight that hard for the individual, it must mean they see something in him" (very much paraphrasing here).

That statement concerns me. People have been plenty passionate about ideologies, etc. But being passionate about something does not always equate to successful means. Someone might be passionate about voting being illegitimate. But their response could be to throw a flaming item into a ballot drop box. Passion is great, but passion should not be the only thing relied upon in the final arguments of a player that is deserving of being taken.

I will chalk this up to Armstrong and Jankowski (along with Sullivan, etc.) not being able to have discussions around players and who to have and not have on our DND list. But the last thing the team needed was negative PR any further, and this is exactly what we could not have, under any circumstance.

 

[Foggy1097]

The Universe is a really, really funny place. After the Coyotes hire the youngest GM in sports history who is supposed to be a “game changer” in the front office, they follow that by finally getting a legitimate owner with money who is dedicated to staying in the valley. Then that GM/owner hire a well respected coach, and trade for Kessel and Hall. Things are looking amazing! But wait...the events that unfold directly after is some shit you couldn’t even possibly make up. It’s so, so goddamn hilarious.

- Turns out Tocchet sucks and can’t coach when his job doesn’t involve being everyone’s buddy.
- Phil has his worst injury year ever and still gets 18-20 minutes a night and sucks.
- Chayka quits and is called names on the way out
- Hall leaves and we lose those assets for nothing
- Caught cheating and lose more picks
- First pandemic in 100 years hits
- Ownership misses multiple payments to multiple different groups
- Publicly shop your captain and then don’t actually get a deal done
- Draft Miller
- Defend the decision to draft and rehabilitate
- Go back on that 3 days later and renounce the pick...officially making your first pick of the draft in the 5th round.

Holeeeeeee shit...wow. Good. Times.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

The Universe is a really, really funny place. After the Coyotes hire the youngest GM in sports history who is supposed to be a “game changer” in the front office, they follow that by finally getting a legitimate owner with money who is dedicated to staying in the valley. Then that GM/owner hire a well respected coach, and trade for Kessel and Hall. Things are looking amazing! But wait...the events that unfold directly after is some shit you couldn’t even possibly make up. It’s so, so goddamn hilarious.

- Turns out Tocchet sucks and can’t coach when his job doesn’t involve being everyone’s buddy.
- Phil has his worst injury year ever and still gets 18-20 minutes a night and sucks.
- Chayka quits and is called names on the way out
- Hall leaves and we lose those assets for nothing
- Caught cheating and lose more picks
- First pandemic in 100 years hits
- Ownership misses multiple payments to multiple different groups
- Publicly shop your captain and then don’t actually get a deal done
- Draft Miller
- Defend the decision to draft and rehabilitate
- Go back on that 3 days later and renounce the pick...officially making your first pick of the draft in the 5th round.

Holeeeeeee shit...wow. Good. Times.

One thing is for sure - nobody steps on their Johnson harder or better than the Arizona Coyotes!

 

[XX]

The Universe is a really, really funny place. After the Coyotes hire the youngest GM in sports history who is supposed to be a “game changer” in the front office, they follow that by finally getting a legitimate owner with money who is dedicated to staying in the valley. Then that GM/owner hire a well respected coach, and trade for Kessel and Hall. Things are looking amazing! But wait...the events that unfold directly after is some shit you couldn’t even possibly make up. It’s so, so goddamn hilarious.

- Turns out Tocchet sucks and can’t coach when his job doesn’t involve being everyone’s buddy.
- Phil has his worst injury year ever and still gets 18-20 minutes a night and sucks.
- Chayka quits and is called names on the way out
- Hall leaves and we lose those assets for nothing
- Caught cheating and lose more picks
- First pandemic in 100 years hits
- Ownership misses multiple payments to multiple different groups
- Publicly shop your captain and then don’t actually get a deal done
- Draft Miller
- Defend the decision to draft and rehabilitate
- Go back on that 3 days later and renounce the pick...officially making your first pick of the draft in the 5th round.

Holeeeeeee shit...wow. Good. Times.

Coyotes are scavengers not particularly known for their prowess at anything but surviving to see another day. It's on brand.

God help the league if the team ever stops punching itself in the face.

 

[Alberta Yote]

Or everyone could just exhibit some self discipline and stop posting.

Or post our asses off and get to 1000

 

[CF84]

I don’t feel sorry for Mitch Miller. If he’s truly cleaned up his act, all he has to do is keep it clean and he’ll be alright. I hope he does. I hope we see a true redemption story and he can do great things in his life that mitigate the negative he’s brought into the lives of others previously. We should all want that. But I don’t feel bad that his draft rights were renounced.

Further, I hope this helps bring some closure to the MC family. They stood up, took the spotlight, shown in brightly on the monster that was still haunting them, and they got what they wanted. Miller’s big moment was spoiled and he’s left with nothing but to start over. It doesn’t erase the hurt. But I hope it helps them feel better today.

I’m happy for the MC family today. I’m not sad for Mitch Miller.

What I’m really focused on is the Coyotes. Who I have never respected less than I do right now. I’m absolutely outraged by their conduct over the last few days. I find it appallingly weak and cowardly. I’m literally shocked by how much they exposed themselves as pure and simple charlatans.

Do you think it's possible that the Coyotes gave Miller an opportunity/ultimatum to do the right thing and apologize in person (in the past day due to pressure)? Maybe Miller was too proud and refused to do the right thing?

Anyways, Miller made someones road in life very difficult and now his road is reflecting this. It seems like the Coyotes have been picking some pretty bad roads as well. I hope things get better for all of the fans.

 

[CLW]

- Trading for Kessel and Hall was just plain stupid. Best case scenario was that Chayka was under orders to reach the playoffs at all costs.
- Scoutgate was more stupidity.
- OEL was a nothingburger. Trading him for less than he is worth would have been such a Chayka move.
- Financial smarts is ok. Sure it gave some people ammo to take pot shots at the Coyotes but it's no biggie.
- Drafting Miller was STUPID.

GMBA was brought in to put an end to stupid moves, stop digging the hole deeper and turn the franchise around. He clearly has more work to do.