Arizona Coyotes renounce 2020 draft pick for racial incident
Anthony Scultore
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The Coyotes used their fourth round selection on Mitchell Miller in the 2020 Draft. In the last week, a report appeared in AZ Central detailing an incident from his childhood where he bullied a disabled black teen and used racial slurs.
Today, the Arizona Coyotes have renounced their rights to Miller.
Official Arizona Coyotes Statement on Mitchell Miller
“We have decided to renounce the rights to Mitchell Miller, effective immediately,” said Coyotes’ President & CEO Xavier Gutierrez. “Prior to selecting Mitchell in the NHL Draft, we were aware that a bullying incident took place in 2016. We do not condone this type of behavior but embraced this as a teachable moment to work with Mitchell to make him accountable for his actions and provide him with an opportunity to be a leader on anti-bullying and anti-racism efforts. We have learned more about the entire matter, and more importantly, the impact it has had on Isaiah and the Meyer-Crothers family. What we learned does not align with the core values and vision for our organization and leads to our decision to renounce our draft rights. On behalf of the Arizona Coyotes ownership and our entire organization, I would like to apologize to Isaiah and the Meyer-Crothers family. We are building a model franchise on and off the ice and will do the right thing for Isaiah and the Meyer-Crothers family, our fans and our partners. Mr. Miller is now a free agent and can pursue his dream of becoming an NHL player elsewhere.”
This is very likely the end of Miller’s hopes of playing in the NHL for the foreseeable future. It would not be surprising if the University of North Dakota cuts ties with the freshman next.