Jeremy Swayman agrees to eight-year deal with Boston Bruins

 

Just two days before the season began, the Boston Bruins signed goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman to an eight-year contract for $66 million on Sunday, capping after a second consecutive summer of difficult talks.

The agreement was reached less than a week after Bruins president Cam Neely told reporters, "I have 64 million reasons why I'd be playing right now," and a year after the team dragged Swayman to arbitration. Lewis Gross, Swayman's agent, refuted reports that the team made a $64 million offer to the 25-year-old Alaskan.

Ultimately, though, they succeeded in avoiding a holdout that could have ruined the season for the Original Six, who have had six straight seasons with 100 points (not counting pandemic-shortened seasons) but haven't advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2019.

Swayman and Boston: 8 x $8.25M

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 6, 2024

Swayman, who has never worked a season as a team's only starting goalie, is among the top five goalies in the NHL in terms of salary thanks to his $8.25 average annual value. Only Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tampa Bay, Connor Hellebuyck of Winnipeg, and Sergei Bobrovsky of Florida earn more.

Swayman, a restricted free agent, was absent from training camp the entire time. A potential catastrophe for a team that had two elite goalies rotating in the net until the start of the playoffs last year—Swayman and 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark—the parties faced a Dec. 1 deadline for him to sign or sit out the entire season.

 After serving as the No. 2 to Ullmark in Boston’s record-setting 2022-23 season, Swayman failed to come to terms on a long-term contract in the summer of 2023 and was awarded a $3.475 million deal in arbitration. He bristled at the process and said: “I don’t want to do it ever again.”

Swayman alternated with Ullmark last year, making 43 starts in the regular season with a 2.53 goals-against average before winning the No. 1 job in the playoffs. The Bruins lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida in the second round.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said signing Swayman in the offseason was his top priority, but he traded Ullmark away before locking up Swayman, timing that gave the player leverage in negotiations.

When training camp began in September, Swayman was still unsigned. The Bruins had Joonas Korpisalo, who was acquired from the Senators in the Ullmark trade, and 26-year-old Brandon Bussi, who played 41 games for Providence of the AHL last season, on the roster.

Coach Jim Montgomery said at the beginning of camp that he was treating Swayman’s absence like an injury: “It’s next man up.”

Korpisalo started 49 games for Ottawa last season with a 3.27 GAA. Boston also got the Senators’ 2024 first-round draft pick and forward Mark Kastelic in the deal.