RD Mitchell Miller - Tri-City Storm, USHL (2020, 111th, ARI, rights renounced)

[Pavel Buchnevich]

It’s about time this guy got a thread. He’s the best American defensemen for the 2020 draft that plays outside of the NTDP. I think he should be a second round pick.

He’s an all situations defensemen that has a really good hockey IQ, good mobility, some playmaking and reliable defense. EP says he shoots left, but he shoots right.

Mitchell Miller at eliteprospects.com

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[Frk It]

I remember being impressed with this kid at the Hlinka last year. Any idea if he is still projecting as a top 50 pick? I think he was another kid who was converted from forward to defense, and he seemed like he had a pretty interesting set of tools.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I remember being impressed with this kid at the Hlinka last year. Any idea if he is still projecting as a top 50 pick? I think he was another kid who was converted from forward to defense, and he seemed like he had a pretty interesting set of tools.

In my opinion, somewhere around that 50 range. It's always hard to tell though with USHL players not playing for the NTDP. Most fans and media publications don't always hype them up like they do with the NTDP players and players from other leagues. Teams, however, watch a lot of the USHL, and are well aware of the players.

 

[Johnny Hanson]

Committed to UND? Sounds like a guy the Sens could draft in the second round.

 

[Frk It]

Kid has caught fire over the last month or so. 21 pts in his last 10 games.

 

[tony d]

Some good numbers there for him. I see a mock draft site has him doing in the 4th round. I could see him going earlier than that if he keeps up his recent scoring pace.

 

[LastWordArmy]

Drafted 17th overall by the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the 2017 USHL Futures Draft, defenceman Mitch Miller was moved to the Tri-City Storm in a 2019 off-season trade. He went on to have a breakout season with the Storm. Miller scored eight goals and 25 assists for 33 points in 44 games. He was also named to the USHL First All-Star Team. Miller also played for Team USA at the World Junior “A” Hockey Challenge. He scored two goals and six points in six games, helping the team to a silver medal.

In 2018-19, Miller had four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 48 games. He appeared in six playoff games but did not record a point. Miller also appeared for Team USA at the WJAC, winning a gold medal. He also played in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, putting up five points in five games as the Americans finished in fourth place. Miller played for Team Red at the USA Select Under-17 tournament. He picked up one goal and three points in five games. Miller is committed to playing hockey for the University of North Dakota next season. His CHL rights are owned by the Sarnia Sting, should he change his mind.

Our Scouting Report
Mitch Miller Scouting Report: 2020 NHL Draft #88 - Last Word on Hockey

 

[PuckProspects]

My pick for most underrated player in the draft. All situations D with a decent talent level and a high IQ. If he can get a little bit more mobile side to side I can see him being a top 4 NHL D. Late 1st early 2nd round pick for me

 

[tealhockey]

My pick for most underrated player in the draft. All situations D with a decent talent level and a high IQ. If he can get a little bit more mobile side to side I can see him being a top 4 NHL D. Late 1st early 2nd round pick for me

I think he is a nice player but strikes me as a bit early for him. I think he is a good to decent second rounder, pretty good value around the third. Far from a sure thing but there is a really nice foundation to his game that he could grow into a solid NHLer. Maybe I need to watch him some more to see what you are saying cause I agree the ceiling is there

 

[Kevin Musto]

Yikes

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Those people giving those quotes are cowards and hypocrites. I’ll say it that clearly. To take part in trying to ruin this guy’s life because of that is ridiculous.

I don’t think many people remember some of the big mistakes they made at 14 years old. These people can’t be that cruel. They must be unaware of the type of mistakes a 14 year old makes.

I would never defend what it sounds like he did. I don’t know all the details, but it sounds pretty bad and disgraceful what he did.

If our society tried to shun people for the mistakes they made at an age where one does not have the cognitive development to be immune from these terrible mistakes, there would be very few people who weren’t shunned.

I can’t say I did what Miller did, if that’s true, but I certainly made some huge mistakes, did some highly regrettable things, and know plenty of people that did some terrible things, as well. I’m going to root for this kid, if teams are going to root against him, because I think it’s a very shitty thing to do what those quotes claim they are going to do.

 

[majormajor]

Those people giving those quotes are cowards and hypocrites. I’ll say it that clearly. To take part in trying to ruin this guy’s life because of that is ridiculous.

I don’t think many people remember some of the big mistakes they made at 14 years old. These people can’t be that cruel. They must be unaware of the type of mistakes a 14 year old makes.

I would never defend what it sounds like he did. I don’t know all the details, but it sounds pretty bad and disgraceful what he did.

If our society tried to shun people for the mistakes they made at an age where one does not have the cognitive development to be immune from these terrible mistakes, there would be very few people who weren’t shunned.

I can’t say I did what Miller did, if that’s true, but I certainly made some huge mistakes, did some highly regrettable things, and know plenty of people that did some terrible things, as well. I’m going to root for this kid, if teams are going to root against him, because I think it’s a very shitty thing to do what those quotes claim they are going to do.

I don't think you'd take him off your list solely on the basis of what he did at 14, but you have to do a lot of homework on his personality assessment to make sure he's done a 180. And the article said he hasn't interviewed well. So put those together and I could see why he is off list for a lot of clubs.

And it wouldn't be some injustice if he isn't drafted. The kid would just have to start his career a little bit differently and work harder to prove he is a changed person. If he is as good as he seems I'm sure he could get a professional job.

 

[William H Bonney]

Here's the article if you want more details on this incident. Pretty disgusting stuff and far beyond being a dumb kid. I'm not a fan of burying someone for their actions at 14 (within reason), but I don't blame NHL teams for considering it and being concerned. If Mitchell and his family are being evasive and he's not interviewing well - especially if he's coming across as unrepentant about the incident, still seems like as a bully, etc. - it's completely reasonable to put him on a DND list if he's seemingly learned no communicable lessons from this after 4+ years.

I hope he's matured, learned, changed. Not for his hockey prospects, but for him as a person. But if he's making the opposite case, it's hard to expect him to get the benefit of the doubt.

 

[57special]

Pretty ugly, but not unheard of stuff. I know of one player who was drafted in the first round who did similar stuff, if not worse stuff, and when he was older than Mitchell. Also know of at least two other bullying cases by hockey players, one of which resulted in one victim falling into depression and failing grades at school. He ultimately needed counseling.
Two of those kids tried to bully my son, who is on the smaller side.

That's just a small snapshot of hockey kids that I know of locally. Doesn't include other sports or just plain bullying. All of the kids doing the bullying come from homes where the marriage is under stress, broken, or one of the parents is a notorious ahole.
Two of the bully's parents were NHL'ers, and pretty high profile ones at that. Funny, because I know one other ex NHL'er who had a notorious rep back in the day, and he is a great parent and good guy.

 

[LeProspector]

Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him go undrafted.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him go undrafted.

We'll have to see. Some team like the Rangers probably won't care and draft him anyway.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I don't think you'd take him off your list solely on the basis of what he did at 14, but you have to do a lot of homework on his personality assessment to make sure he's done a 180. And the article said he hasn't interviewed well. So put those together and I could see why he is off list for a lot of clubs.

And it wouldn't be some injustice if he isn't drafted. The kid would just have to start his career a little bit differently and work harder to prove he is a changed person. If he is as good as he seems I'm sure he could get a professional job.

I only talked about this one incident. I don't like the idea of people in glass houses throwing stones. I'm sure these scouts and GM's never took part in any hazing or bullying or never did anything shitty when they were 14 years old.

If the guy is a bad apple, it's not the main point of my prior post, and I think there's at least a little more merit to downgrading him. But if he's a bad apple, it's not because of this one incident, and this one incident shouldn't even be a main reason to say he's a bad apple. If someone's a bad person or not someone you want to be associated with, it's probably not because of one thing they did at the age of 14. If the kid isn't drafted because of this or if this is a main reason why this kid isn't drafted, I think it would be an injustice. It would speak to a culture where being the unlucky one to have your dirty laundry from when you were a kid aired is what opens and closes doors.

I said similar things about the criticisms you hear about Ryan Merkley. I think you have a lot of NHL teams that are trying to open and close doors for these players due to their actions at an age where the overwhelming majority of people do dumb and stupid things. It's even more ridiculous when we are talking about something someone did at the age of 14. By all means, if someone has violated the law, thats clearly a bigger issue. I'm not suggesting NHL teams run a draft for the prison population. However, I think there are a lot of people making these decisions who acted in these exact same ways at these ages that they are scrutinizing these kids for.

Just like hockey skills mature at different ages, people mature at different ages. Maybe a kid doesn't get it until he's 21, and then at 21 it clicks for him. I don't think that should close doors for him. I think thats unfair to him, and unfair to the next kid who comes along that similar things are said about. Most people generally at some point in their 20's-30's, which is the life of a hockey career, do mature and have things click for them to the point that their prior mistakes and ways as a kid aren't an issue. And obviously for some that won't happen. But for some players you draft, their hockey skills don't develop.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Some team like the Rangers probably won't care and draft him anyway.

Here you go again with this.

You have yet to provide any proof for this statement that you keep repeating.

 

[majormajor]

if he's a bad apple, it's not because of this one incident

That's entirely what teams are trying to figure out - is Miller a bad apple that you won't want in your locker room? The "incident" doesn't mean as much by itself. But if Miller had indeed bullied this kid since the 2nd grade, and had no remorse about it at 14, that is different than just a singular incident. It's a red flag that can only be removed with proof of a major change, a change that is supposedly not apparent in interviews.

When I was 14 or 15 I did do something that was clearly bullying - I was bullied myself and responded by bullying someone else. But like most kids would, I saw that I had hurt someone and felt bad about it, and I stopped. I think we can all look at "incidents" at that age, but if it's a consistent behavior then you do have a more difficult case and need to see a major change.

 

[Kevin Musto]

When I was 14 or 15 I did do something that was clearly bullying - I was bullied myself and responded by bullying someone else. But like most kids would, I saw that I had hurt someone and felt bad about it, and I stopped. I think we can all look at "incidents" at that age, but if it's a consistent behavior then you do have a more difficult case and need to see a major change.

Exactly this. If teams are reportedly not willing to draft him, to me that sounds like they've done their homework and this is actually a recurring problem and he has not matured.

 

[member 96824]

Those people giving those quotes are cowards and hypocrites. I’ll say it that clearly. To take part in trying to ruin this guy’s life because of that is ridiculous.

I don’t think many people remember some of the big mistakes they made at 14 years old. These people can’t be that cruel. They must be unaware of the type of mistakes a 14 year old makes.

I would never defend what it sounds like he did. I don’t know all the details, but it sounds pretty bad and disgraceful what he did.

If our society tried to shun people for the mistakes they made at an age where one does not have the cognitive development to be immune from these terrible mistakes, there would be very few people who weren’t shunned.

I can’t say I did what Miller did, if that’s true, but I certainly made some huge mistakes, did some highly regrettable things, and know plenty of people that did some terrible things, as well. I’m going to root for this kid, if teams are going to root against him, because I think it’s a very shitty thing to do what those quotes claim they are going to do.

What did you think about the judge’s quotes who heard the entire case, both sides of the story, and landed here:

Mitchell, I’m not sure you still get it,” he said in the courtroom. “I don’t think you like being where you are. But I still don’t think you’ve put yourself in the shoes of not just the one victim but numerous victims. No one should come to school and feel humiliated or intimidated.
“If this is what you do in school, I wonder what you do outside of school. You’re supposed to be on your best behavior in school. So if this is an example of your best behavior, I wonder what your worst behavior is. I don’t have a sense of real remorse. But I do feel that you feel sorry for yourself.”

2 Sylvania teens sentenced in bullying case

 

[KapG]

What a garbage human this guy is

 

[The Puckhound]

I don’t really see how anyone is defending this kid... the details of his case are sickening and go well beyond your typical hs bullying bullshit. Unsurprised the judge wasn’t seeing any remorse given what he felt comfortable doing to a disadvantaged peer. I would quite simply ask would you want someone like this in your place of work? Easy DND for me

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

What did you think about the judge’s quotes who heard the entire case, both sides of the story, and landed here:


2 Sylvania teens sentenced in bullying case

I couldn’t care less. If you take all your direction from authority figures you’ve never heard of, that’s your choice. That’s not how I look at things.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

A lot of people here criticizing the kid are complete hypocrites, by the way. You want to throw stones from a glass house.

This is a forum. We are all strangers. No one’s going to hold you to your past sins. You should be a little more understanding that 14 year olds make mistakes and shouldn’t be held at 18 to their mistakes at 14, unless they keep repeating them. I’m sure a lot of you made worse mistakes than this kid.

Yet unfortunately, I think many here would rather act high and mighty. I guess the posters of HF were model citizens at 14 and never did anything terrible or got in any trouble as a teenager. All of you must be better people than this kid. He’s beneath you.