Loretta Lynch among those retained to review Bruins' player vetting process

The Boston Bruins announced Tuesday that the team has hired an independent firm, led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, to conduct an independent review of the team's player vetting process.

"The Boston Bruins strive every day to live our values and meet the high standards our associates, fans and community have come to expect," the team said in a statement. "This includes treating everyone inside and outside our organization with dignity and respect. We recently fell short of our high standards and disappointed both ourselves and many in our community.

"Moving forward, we are committed to ensuring that our values are reflected in everything we do as an organization, including our process for vetting future players.

"As part of this commitment, the Boston Bruins have retained an experienced and respected team of professionals, led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch of the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, to conduct an independent review of our player-vetting process. This will help us ensure that our process going forward reflects our core values. The Bruins organization will fully cooperate with the independent review team and will publicly disclose the results of the review upon its completion." 

The announcement comes one week after the Bruins parted ways with defenceman Mitchell Miller, who signed an entry-level contract on Nov. 4. Miller had his draft rights relinquished by Arizona for bullying Meyer-Crothers, a Black classmate with developmental disabilities, in middle school.

The signing prompted criticism from Bruins players, media, and fans, as well as and comments from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman that the 20-year-old isn’t currently eligible to play in the league.

Team president Cam Neely said in a statement last week that the Bruins thought Miller's bullying of Meyer-Crothers was an isolated incident and reversed course based on new information.

Miller pleaded guilty at age 14 to one count of assault and one count of violation of the Ohio Safe Schools Act. He and another teenager were accused of making Meyer-Crothers eat a candy push pop after wiping it in a bathroom urinal, and surveillance video showed them kicking and punching him.

The Coyotes drafted Miller despite knowing of his 2016 assault conviction. The team parted ways with the defenceman amid criticism after learning more about the bullying.