Jeremy Swayman signs 8-year contract with Bruins
BOSTON -- The contract standoff between Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins has finally come to an end. The goaltender and the Bruins have agreed to an eight-year contract.
The deal is worth $8.25 million per season, and reportedly includes $23 million in bonuses and a no-trade clause, according to Eliotte Friedman of SportsNet in Canada.
The Bruins released the news Sunday morning. It ends months of negotiations between the 25-year-old Swayman and the Bruins and comes after the team started training camp without their starting netminder.
"Hey, fans. Sway here. I'm so excited to be back," Swayman said in a video posted on the Bruins X account Sunday morning. "I thank all of you for all the support throughout the entire process. But we got a lot of new beginnings to start and I cannot wait to get going."
Swayman is heading into the 2024-25 season as Boston's No. 1 goalie after he split time in net the last two seasons with veteran Linus Ullmark. Swayman went 25-10-8 with three shutouts, a 2.53 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage in 44 games last season.
The Bruins traded Ullmark to Ottawa earlier this offseason, landing goalie Joonas Korpisalo, forward Mark Kastelic, and a 2024 first-round pick, which the team used to draft center Dean Letourneau. Boston head coach Jim Montgomery said that week that Korpisalo would be the team's starting goaltender when the Bruins open the season against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 8.
Swayman led the way for Boston in net during the playoffs last year, playing all but one of the team's 13 postseason contests. Swayman got the start in Game 1 of the opening round against Toronto, making 35 saves in a 5-1 victory, and after Ullmark lost Game 2, Swayman started every game the rest of the way. He stole some games for the Bruins and finished the postseason with a 6-6 record, a 2.15 GAA, and a .933 save percentage, but Boston lost to the Panthers -- the eventual Stanley Cup champions -- in six games in the second round.
How much is Swayman making on his extension with Bruins?
Swayman's $8.25 million cap hit is tied for the fifth-highest in the NHL, matching Ilya Sorokin's cap hit with the New York Islanders. Montreal's Carey Price tops the list at $10.5 million, followed by Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million), Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million), and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million).
Here's a year-by-year breakdown of his new deal with Boston, including details on his no-trade clause:
Who is Jeremy Swayman?
A fourth-round pick by the Bruins in 2017, Swayman has played in 132 games (making 125 starts) over his four NHL seasons and touts a 79-33-15 record with a 2.34 GAA and .919 save percentage with a dozen shutouts. In his 20 postseason games, Swayman owns a 9-10 record with a 2.38 GAA and .922 save percentage.
Swayman was an NHL All-Star for the first time of his career last season. He was on the NHL All-Rookie team in 2021-22 when he went 23-14-3 with a .914 save percentage and a 2.41 GAA.
Swayman and the Bruins had to go to arbitration last offseason, which Swayman said wasn't a pleasant experience. He reportedly requested a $4.8 million contract, while the team countered with $2 million. He ended up with a $3.475 contract for the 2023-24 season.
Swayman was a restricted free-agent this offseason and he and the Bruins opted to forgo the arbitration process this time around. They had until Dec. 1 to strike a new deal, or Swayman would have to sit out the entire 2024-25 season.
