Swayman Awarded One-Year, $3.47 Million In Arbitration

Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman has been awarded a one-year, $3.47 million contract after his arbitration hearing on Sunday.

The award came just hours after the Boston Bruins avoided an arbitration hearing with forward Trent Frederic, agreeing to a two-year, $4.6 million contract with the 25-year-old forward.

Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman broke Swayman the news late Tuesday afternoon. Friedman had also reported this past Friday that the Boston Bruins and Swayman were $2.8 million apart in their arbitration offers. The Bruins had filed for $2 million, and Swayman and his agent Lewis Gross had filed for $4.8 million. As is usually the case in arbitration, the award landed pretty much in the middle.

Jeremy Swayman, 24 is coming out of his three-year, $2.7 million contract with a $925,000 salary cap hit. Swayman went 24-6-4 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Swayman and 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark were awarded the 2023 Jennings Trophy, which goes to the goalie tandem with the best-combined goals-against average.

What was interesting is that the Boston Bruins did have the option to make the award a two-year contract and not just one. This means that at the end of the upcoming 2023-24 season, Swayman will again be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. He will also be two years away from unrestricted free agency.

The #NHLBruins 24 y/o RFA G Swayman was awarded 1-year $3.475M Contract in arbitration per @FriedgeHNIC. BOS chose 1-year award (could have chosen 2 years)

Will be RFA with Arb next summer & 2 years from UFA eligibility

Rep'd by Lewis Gross @SPMsports https://t.co/ICtY10Onby

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) August 1, 2023

As our friends at Puckpedia also pointed out, assuming the Boston Bruins waive/send down defenseman Ian Mitchell ($775,000 AAV) and he clears, the Bruins will have $417,000 in salary cap space.

With Swayman awarded $3.475M in arbitration per @FriedgeHNIC, #NHLBruins have $417K Projected Cap Space with 22 players on roster (13F/7D/2G)

This assumes/projects Mitchell is waived/sent down to be cap compliant. Any 22-player roster would be compliant

https://t.co/jqcwwCeoUh

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) August 1, 2023

Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney will now have a second buyout window that will begin in three days and last 48 hours. Sweeney is only allowed to buy out players with a salary cap hit of $4 million or more and was part of the Bruins’ roster at the last NHL trade deadline.

Sweeney already bought out defenseman Mike Reilly and the final season of his three-year contract that carried a $3 million salary cap hit back on June 30. According to the PuckPedia Buyout Calculator, the total buyout cost for Mike Reilly was $2.6 million. With one year left on the contract, the buyout will be applied over two years with a $333,000 cap hit in year one and a $1.33 million AAV in year two. The Bruins gained $2.67 million against the salary cap.

Defensemen Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort have been constants on the NHL trade rumor circuit throughout the offseason as Sweeney looked for ways to keep clearing cap space. However, Grzelcyk is on the books for one more season at a cap hit of $3.6 million, and Forbort is at $3 million, so they are not eligible for a buyout.