Daily Roundup: Coyotes renounced the rights of draft pick Mitchell Miller, Dale Tallon investigated, and more

Cam Lewis
Cam Lewis

Welcome to Daily Faceoff’s daily NHL roundup where we bring you the NHL’s most important news and rumours every day. 

Coyotes renounce Miller’s draft rights

According to TSN, the Arizona Coyotes have renounced the draft rights of 2020 fourth-round pick Mitchell Miller.

This news comes three days after a story published in The Arizona Republic revealed disturbing information about how Miller and another teen were charged with assaulting an African American classmate with developmental disabilities back in 2016.

While the Coyotes originally stated that they would stand by Miller and work with him to “confront bullying and racism” they have since changed their stance. CEO Xavier Guttierez released this statement on Thursday…

“We have decided to renounce the rights to Mitchell Miller, effective immediately,” said Gutierrez in a statement. “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 behaviour 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.”

Miller is set to start playing NCAA hockey at North Dakota and the program has said that they intend to maintain that commitment.

More can be read on the Miller situation and what it means here.

NHL clears Dale Tallon

Also according to TSN, the NHL launched an investigation of Dale Tallon in early-August after reports surfaced that the former Florida Panthers general manager had used “racially charged language” during his time in the Toronto playoff bubble. Tallon had been fired by the Panthers earlier in August.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP, the outside firm hired by the league to investigate, conducted interviews with over a dozen sources within the Panthers organization and reviewed all available information and has reportedly determined that the claims against Tallon were unsubstantiated.

“The allegations were neither corroborated nor substantiated, and are inconsistent with Tallon’s past actions and his affirmative efforts in support of diversity and inclusion initiatives,” the league said in a statement. “As a result, based on the investigation, the NHL has further concluded that there has been no established violation of NHL policy or protocols.”

The NHL will not comment further on the situation. Tallon is reportedly being considered for a job in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ front office.

Rick Bowness named Stars head coach

The Dallas Stars announced on Thursday that they’ve named Rick Bowness as the team’s head coach. He had been serving as head coach on an interim basis.

This move is no surprise at all. Bowness took over behind Dallas’ bench after Jim Montgomery was abruptly let go by the organization due to issues surrounding alcoholism. The Stars posted a 20-13-5 record under Bowness in the regular season and then ran all the way to the Stanley Cup Final where they lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

This is Bowness’ first full-time gig as a head coach in the NHL since the late-90s when he coached the Islanders. In 2003-04, Bowness took over the Coyotes’ bench mid-season after Bobby Francis was let go but he wasn’t retained after that.

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