Jeremy Swayman’s standoff with the Boston Bruins continues.
The team has just two practices remaining before its Oct. 8 regular-season opener against the Florida Panthers. Coach Jim Montgomery has already designated Joonas Korpisalo as the Game 1 starter.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s behind-the-scenes series from the 2023-24 playoffs reveals part of what has motivated Swayman during negotiations.
If you’ve missed anything, here are recent stories on the negotiation gone wrong:
- Swayman discloses doubt over Bruins future in Amazon’s NHL series
- The Bruins’ $3.475 million Swayman blunder
- What comes next? It all depends on Swayman’s interpretation
- Shinzawa: Bruins-Swayman talks have gone sideways. It’s just business
- Cam Neely says Swayman has ‘64 million reasons’ to sign — agent pushes back
- Why the team took the standoff to another level
- Swayman trade is not on the radar for Bruins — for now
And what do fans think? We put out a survey Wednesday afternoon to gauge sentiment, and nearly 1,500 readers had participated in polling as of 11 a.m. Eastern on Thursday. Here’s what they said, with analysis.
Perhaps Neely stretched the truth about the Bruins $64 million offer. But readers were more inclined to believe Neely than Gross, who said a $64 million deal was never on the table prior to Monday’s press conference.
An eight-year, $64 million contract would make Swayman the fifth-highest-paid goalie in the NHL, following Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million average annual value), Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million), Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million) and Ilya Sorokin ($8.25 million).
Readers believe it is a fair award, especially for a 25-year-old who has never been a regular-season No. 1 goalie.
Three-quarters of readers believe Swayman is being unreasonable by not accepting a $64 million contract.
Perhaps part of that is because of how high an $8 million average annual value would place Swayman among his peers.
Bumping up their offer by $500,000 annually would put the Bruins in line with what readers believe is fair.
A four-year bridge deal would give Swayman, in all likelihood, one more swing at a big-time payday.
But reader opinion is basically split on this option. It would let Swayman walk into unrestricted free agency with plenty of motivation to seek his megabucks elsewhere.
Sweeney and Neely have closed prior deals on David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo when all three missed time in training camp as restricted free agents.
But this is a far trickier negotiation. A slight majority believe the bosses will get it done.
The result is pessimistic. This means readers believe Swayman is willing to sit out the entire 2024-25 season instead of signing a contract.
At the same time, it would mean the Bruins would be unwilling to go above their number and let Korpisalo be the full-time No. 1.
If the Bruins agree with this result, it gives them leverage in negotiations. The roster, in other words, is strong enough in other areas to withstand a Swayman absence.
This would require the offense to kick in, the defense to be stout and Korpisalo to improve upon his 2023-24 performance.
Readers want assets instead of letting Swayman sit on the sidelines all year.
It’s difficult to project what kind of return Swayman would provide. He is unlikely to come off his ask for any acquiring team.
The majority of readers acknowledge that Ullmark had to be moved to clear cap space (partly to shift toward Swayman) and to acquire a first-round pick.
(Photo: Rich Gagnon / Getty Images)
