Swayman Holds ‘No Ill Will’ Towards Bruins After Arbitration

After going through his first-ever arbitration process and hearing, Boston Bruins Jeremy Swayman made it clear that he holds ‘no ill will’ against the Bruins after being awarded a one-year, $3.47 million contract following a July 30 arbitration hearing.

Still, though, that doesn’t mean he enjoyed the arbitration process or would want to do it again next summer when he will once again be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

“It wasn’t a process I wanted to go through,” the 24-year-old goalie said on Tuesday in his first media availability since the arbitration hearing. “But I understand that it’s business, and in the end, I’m grateful I went through it because I have so many things to be grateful for.”

Due to the salary cap constraints that the Boston Bruins faced heading into this offseason, Jeremy Swayman and his goalie and hugging partner, Linus Ullmark, have been the subject of NHL trade rumors as the Bruins searched for cap flexibility. While that and the arbitration process could understandably be a source of stress and frustration, Swayman tried to stay as even-keeled as he does on the ice.

“I think the biggest thing is living day by day, understanding that what you hear might not be the truth at all times and again, it’s a business,” Swayman said. “I wanted to make sure that whatever was thrown my way, I was gonna be able to attack with a good mindset and make sure that at the end of the day, I was doing everything I could to be a Boston Bruin.

“Now I’m here today, and I am a Boston Bruin — I couldn’t be happier. There’s no ill will on the process because I understand that. I’m not the first player to go through it. I’m not the last. But I definitely don’t wish it upon any of my friends and teammates moving forward, and I don’t want to do it ever again as well. So grateful I went through it. Glad I got it done. I’m a Boston Bruin at the end of the day.”

Swayman and Linus Ullmark – who also won the 2023 Vezina Trophy – combined to win the Jennings Trophy last season as they 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 1990-91 Chicago Blackhawks (211) allowed 38 fewer goals than the Montreal Canadiens (249).

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 Swayman was 24-6-4 with a 2.27 GAA and a .920 save percentage.