Contract Negotiations with Jeremy Swayman Have Taken a... Weird?... Turn
There are eight days until the Bruins' 2024-2025 season opener, and the contract negotiations with starting goalie Jeremy Swayman have taken a very unexpected turn. What most would have believed to be a swift and easy process after the Ullmark trade has now flipped 180 degrees and turned into petty media comments and player agents refuting those comments.
All hell broke loose today at a Bruins press conference when team president Cam Neely seemingly threw Swayman under the bus by alluding to an offer the Bruins made to him.
“I don’t want to get into the weeds with what his ask is,” Neely said at today's afternoon press conference. “But I know that I have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now.”
Neely went on to say that he was surprised by Swaymans counter offer. And then the internet broke. Just about everyone from major news outlets, podcasts, and NHL insiders rushed to give their opinion on the matter. Some tried to find out more information and others tried to stir the pot even more. To be clear, I'm referring to the "spitting up on yourself" podcast host, Paul Bissonnette. All jokes aside, whether it be Neely or General Manager Don Sweeny, it feels like they know that the public is not on their side and they're grasping at straws. Only to look foolish by alienating one of their top assests in Jeremy Swayman.
A few hours passed and Swayman's agent released a statement in regards to Neely's comments.
On his agency’s Instagram page, Jeremy Swayman’s representative releases a statement
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 30, 2024
“We will take a few days to discuss where we go from here.” pic.twitter.com/VRcL5pNngf
This is such a dumb situation. After not getting much for Ullmark, the Bruins seem to be in a tight spot with Swayman. They have no leverage. The way I see it there are three outcomes to this situation. Firstly, the most realistic option, the most desired option for the Bruins and their fans, would be to get a deal done. While Swaymans Agent said, that 64 million was never discussed, I think that would be quite a fair deal. Swayman would be the fifth highest-paid goalie, and would finally get his chance to be the "guy" in between the pipes, after splitting time for the past two seasons. The Bruins named Joonas Korpisalo as their opening night starter and there's a lot to be concerned with there. Korpisalo has looked decent in the past and has also looked horrible. Yes, I know that the Bruins are a "goalie factory." However, we all watched what Swayman could do in the postseason. The Bruins weren't eliminated because their goalie wasn't good. The Bruins didn't have a question mark at goalie. They had one of the best in the net. PAY THE MAN!
Secondly, and probably the most painful option as a fan, would be for Swayman to hold out, the Bruins have major problems in net with Korpisalo, lose a few games because of it, and Sway gets a late start to the season and the Bruins don't find their groove until late November, a time period where in the past two seasons it felt like they had already cemented a spot in the postseason. I don't want to be a "sky is falling" type of guy. I don't foresee this happening because Swayman has been around the team throughout training camp. I truly do believe that he wants to be on this team, but also knows his worth and doesn't want to be shorted. Who does?
Finally, the least likely option in my mind is for Swayman to be disgruntled by these negotiations and request a trade. If this was the NFL or the NBA, I would think this is the most likely option, but hockey players are different. Sure, this kind of thing happens in the NHL now but it's not common. For quite a while the Bruins' own, Jake Debrusk, had requested to be traded and was told to get lost. And what did he do? He suited up and played for three more seasons.
Like I said earlier, this is such a dumb situation, but realistically this blog could be outdated in a day or so. The two parties could come to a reasonable solution and Swayman could be in the net by the end of next week. I think I can speak for most fans in saying that this negotiation appeared to be just a formality and paperwork to get the right deal in place. Never in a million years did I think it would be dragged on for months like it has. Hopefully, everything comes together and this is just a bad memory left in the past.
