Bruins Restricted Free Agents: Jeremy Swayman

Here’s the third of our three features on the potential restricted free agents for the Boston Bruins and whether or not they will return to play with the Bruins in the 2023-24 regular season or beyond.

Will 24-year-old goalie Jeremy Swayman be back with the Boston Bruins for the 2023-24 season?

The Skinny

The Boston Bruins allowed a league-low 177 goals (including shootout-deciding goals). They finished ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes (213) by an astonishing 36 goals. That’s the largest gap between the top two teams since the 190-91 Chicago Blackhawks (211) allowed 38 fewer goals than the Montreal Canadiens (249). As a result, Swayman had his best season yet in his young NHL career this past season. Swayman and goaltending partner Linus Ullmark combined to win the 2023 Jennings Trophy.

The dynamic and hugging duo of Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman also became the first goalie tandem to have one goalie win 40 games and the other 20 or more. Ullmark was 40-6-1 with a 1.89 GAA and a .938 save percentage, and is a 2023 Vezina Trophy finalist and favorite. Meanwhile, Swayman had his best season going 24-6-4 with a 2.27 GAA and a .920 save percentage.

Outlook

Swayman is a restricted free agent and numerous projections have him being awarded a 2-3 year contract that could carry a cap hit somewhere between $3.5-4.5 million. Ever since the Boston Bruins were eliminated from the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs back on April 30, NHL trade speculation has swirled around Ullmark and Swayman. With two seasons left on a four-year, $20 million contract that carries a $5 million salary cap hit for Ullmark, and an expected solid pay raise for Swayman, there’s a feeling amongst many NHL insiders that one of the two Boston Bruins goalies – most likely Ullmark – the Bruins will make one of the goalies a salary cap casualty.

It should be noted that Swayman recently expressed optimism and a desire to stay with the Boston Bruins.

“Just one day at a time. It’s a fun time to be a part of it,” the 24-year-old restricted free agent-to-be told 92.9 FM The Ticket on Wednesday.

While he didn’t indicate what, if any, progress has been made in the contract talks, the always positive Jeremy Swayman didn’t seem worried at all that things could go south at the negotiating table. Instead he sung his praises of the Boston Bruins and shared his excitement about his future as a member of the team.

“I think the team’s going to be really special in years to come and obviously, I want to do everything I can to be a Bruin. I absolutely love wearing that Spoked-B,” Swayman said.

Also, as reported here prior to the March 3 NHL Trade Deadline, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney told interested teams that Swayman and winger Jake DeBrusk were not available heading into the deadline. One would think that is still the case for Swayman now, but with the Bruins’ cap issues, never rule out the unexpected.