Report: Bruins And Swayman $2.8 Million Apart

Per a report from Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Boston Bruins and restricted free agent goalie Jeremy Swayman are $2.8 million apart, with their arbitration hearing set for Sunday.

According to Friedman, the Boston Bruins have filed an offer of $2 million, and the Swayman camp came in at $4.8 million. The Bruins have approximately $5.4 million in salary cap space.

Arbitration filings for Boston and Jeremy Swayman — team: $2M, player: $4.8M

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 28, 2023

Last Sunday, Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov was awarded a one-year, $3.55 million contract after his arbitration hearing this past Friday. The Maple Leafs and Samsonov were reportedly quite far apart in their asks heading into the hearing on Friday. Various reports had Samsonov filing for a one-year, $4.9 million contract, and the team coming in at $2.4 million. Samsonov, 26, emerged as the everyday starter thanks to Matt Murray’s constant injury woes this past season. He went 27-10-5 last season with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage in 42 games. The Russian netminder signed a one-year, $1.8 million contract last summer after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Washington Capitals.

Jeremy Swayman is coming out of his three-year, $2.7 million contract with a $925,000 salary cap hit. Swayman didn’t have quite the workload that Samsonov did but was superb in a split of the games with hugging partner Linus Ullmark. Swayman went 24-6-4 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Swayman and Ullmark were awarded the 2023 Jennings Trophy, which goes to the goalie tandem with the best-combined goals-against average.

Since the 2022-23 Boston Bruins season ended, Swayman has been optimistic a deal would be reached between him and the team and has been adamant that he wants to remain a Bruin for a long time.

“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 told 92.9 FM The Ticket on June 7.