About 12 hours after cutting ties with controversial prospect Mitchell Miller before he ever played a game for the organization, Bruins president Cam Neely was a man without a lot of answers Monday morning at Warrior Ice Arena.

Part of that was by design given the potential legal fallout of the matter, and part of that was just unavailable at the moment, with a frustrated Neely citing some issues with the missteps that led to the team’s initial decision to sign Miller over the course of a 16-minute media session.

“Well the fact that we didn’t talk to the family was concerning to me,” Neely, who did not open Monday’s conference with a statement, said when asked about the ‘new information’ that led to their decision. Asked why they didn’t talk to Isaiah Meyer-Crothers’ family, Neely said, “That’s a great question [and] something I need to find out.”

Neely said that he planned on reaching out to the family of the victim.

“I want to apologize to Isaiah and his family,” Neely said. “It’s something that they shouldn’t continue to go through.”

But, how did they even land here in the first place?

The Bruins said last week that they had started to do their homework on Miller about a year ago. It intensified with in-person visits, and even included the Bruins urging Miller to apologize to Meyer-Crothers. That apology, according to the family, came in the form of an Instagram direct message, and with Miller noting that it ‘had nothing to do with hockey.’

“Well, from everything I heard, [Miller] was working on himself, working in programs to better himself,” Neely said. “I was under the impression it was a 14-year-old kid that made a really, really bad decision and did some horrible things. And he’s 20 years old now, so I was under the impression that in the last six years he had done a lot of work on himself.”

The Bruin were also in communication with Miller’s agent, Eustace King, throughout the process. Prior to the Bruins cutting ties with Miller, King released a statement on Twitter on Sunday that talked about Miller’s changes, his efforts to change, and his community service. Some of the organizations mentioned in that statement pushed back on their involvement with Miller, noting that they either had not worked with him or had not committed to working with him.

Neely opted not to get into the specifics of feeling misled by King or if King misrepresented the facts of that story.

“I really can’t get into that right now, unfortunately” Neely told me.

There’s an answer within that non-answer.

Neely also wouldn’t tell me the financial implications of this split, and whether or not it was a buyout, or a mutually agreed upon contract termination.

There’s another answer within that non-answer.

The Bruins’ failure to do their homework was something that really seemed to irk Neely.

When asked if this was a vetting issue, Neely offered a curt ‘absolutely’ and nothing more.

But with a misstep this great, that wasn’t going to fly.

“I shouldn’t assume anything,” Neely said when asked if he assumed that the Bruins had done their research and talked to the family. “I made it clear that we have to vet this out properly. When it first came to my attention in August, I said we have to vet this out properly. This is something that’s a massive decision for the organization to make.”

The Bruins felt comfortable enough to offer and sign Miller to an entry-level deal that maxed out bonuses and AHL salary. I asked Neely if his scouting team had given him enough data as to Miller’s change and growth.

“From a hockey standpoint, they think he’s a player that can play. From a character standpoint, that’s where we failed.”

In a follow up, Neely confirmed that the scouts believed that he had changed as a person.

But it was clear to Neely, who noted that the team needed to and should’ve done more digging on the player and situation, that this was a failure on the part of the hockey operations department.

“There’s a lot of people that are let down today,” Neely said. “I’m disappointed that we’re in this position. We shouldn’t be in this position. We could’ve done a better job, we should’ve done a better job.”

Neely did not rule out punishment and penalties for anybody in hockey ops.

“Something I have to deal with today and this week and see where it takes me,” Neely said. “I’ve got more work to do.”

But Neely also couldn’t plead ignorance on this.

He was involved in the meetings with Miller prior to the Bruins signing him. Miller had explained to Neely ‘at length’ what happened between he and Meyer-Crothers, and Neely walked away thinking that Miller did deserve a second chance. Multiple people in multiple departments (and on multiple occasions) pushed back on the idea that the Bruins needed to be the team to give Miller that second chance, sources told 98.5 The Sports Hub.

But Neely and the Bruins stuck to their guns, and opted to sign Miller after a 2021-22 USHL season that earned him Player of the Year and Defenseman of the Year honors.

“Initially I was thinking [the fan reaction] was going to be, ‘OK, this kid deserves a second chance,'” Neely said. “I thought there would be some people that would be upset about it, but to the extent of this? I misread that.”

Neely added that while does believe in second chances, not everybody deserves them.

“It was a combination of everything,” Neely said of the what led the team to cut ties. “Certainly our fanbase being upset, and rightfully so. And for me, it was not worth putting the organization through this any longer.”

The damage has been done though, and there’s no doubt that the Bruins’ image has taken a big hit.

“I’m extremely upset that we have a made a lot of people unhappy with our decision,” Neely offered. “I take pride in the Bruins organization and what we stand for, and we failed that.

“We like to take pride in what we do in the community and how we hold ourselves accountable. We dropped the ball and I’m here to apologize for that.”

The minimization of what happened is an absolute gut punch to many. I asked Neely what he would say to those Bruins fans who are Black, who do have or know someone with a developmental disability, even after this move to cut ties.

“I want to apologize on behalf of the Boston Bruins organization and on behalf of myself,” Neely offered. “It was a decision that we didn’t take lightly. I’ll go back to the fact that I felt, based on everything that I knew, that he deserved a second chance.

“This has been, no question, by far, our biggest [mistake].”

Now comes seeing how it’s corrected beyond making the easiest decision they ever could.