The time has finally come and the Boston Bruins and their fans can rejoice. Star goaltender Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins have come to terms on a new contract. After a stall in the negotiations, the Bruins and Swayman agreed to an eight-year contract extension with an average annual value (AAV) of $8.25 million per season. This is huge, as regular-season action is right around the corner.
This is more than just any ordinary deal. The Bruins finally locked up their goalie of the present and the future. While the deal is great for Swayman, this is also good for the Bruins and it is important that it got done.
The Bruins’ Seamless Transition
The Bruins have been blessed down the middle of the ice for over a decade. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci helped anchor the middle of the ice and impacted the club in the biggest way. Since their retirements, the Bruins have made the transition slowly to Charlie Coyle and Elias Lindholm. Another area they’ve been blessed with is the goaltending.
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It’s been a seamless transition for the Bruins in the goal crease. Going from Conn Smythe Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion Tim Thomas to Tuukka Rask was a blessing. Furthermore, the club transitioned from Rask to the tandem of Linus Ullmark and Swayman. No matter what, the Bruins have always had stability between the pipes.
A decision had to be made, as the Bruins could not keep both Swayman and Ullmark. Both needed to be paid and locking them both up to lucrative deals would not benefit the club. The organization chose Swayman and moved Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators.
The seamless transition continues and Swayman is the guy.
Swayman Has Continued to Get Better
The Bruins are aiming to get younger and they’ve managed to accomplish that feat in short order. Keeping Swayman as the number one goalie helps achieve that goal, as he is just 25 years old. Also, Swayman has consistently gotten better with each passing season, showing he is worth the investment.
Swayman made his NHL debut during the 2020-21 season. It was a small sample size, but you could see the potential that was there. His goals against average (GAA) was low and his save percentage (SV%) was sharp. Over the years, he has gotten better and improved his level of play. Here’s how he’s looked with each season since entering the league:
- 2020-21: 10 games, 1.50 GAA, .945 SV%, 5.6 goals saved above expected (GSAx)
- 2021-22: 41 games, 2.41 GAA, .914 SV%, 4.2 GSAx
- 2022-23: 37 games, 2.27 GAA, .920 SV%, 24.0 GSAx
- 2023-24: 44 games, 2.53 GAA, .916 SV%, 18.4 GSAx
Swayman has gotten better, especially with a heavier workload compared to his 10-game sample size during the 2020-21 season. He’s consistently shown to deliver during the regular season and help give the Bruins a chance to win on any given night. The only question regarding Swayman is his workload. Can he handle a heavier workload? Head coach Jim Montgomery had heavily utilized the tandem with Ullmark but now it’s up to Swayman. That will be one of the bigger storylines entering the 2024-25 season. Swayman is more than just a regular-season goalie, as he has seen the crease in the playoffs.
During the 2021-22 season, Swayman took over for Ullmark in the first round against the Carolina Hurricanes. He played the remaining five games of the seven-game series, finishing with a 2.63 GAA and a .911 SV%. He was much sharper than Ullmark and helped the Bruins get back into the series.
In a series of unfortunate events, Swayman was in the net for the Game 7 defeat to the Florida Panthers in 2023, but he rebounded during the 2024 postseason. The knock on Swayman was that he never won a Game 7. That all changed when he defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in round one.
Swayman made a name for himself during the 2024 playoff season. He never allowed more than two goals during the entire first round and was a large reason why the Bruins advanced. He took the crease like it belonged to him and never gave it back. If not for Swayman, the Bruins may have lost to the 2024 Panthers sooner (six games).
Swayman ended up being one of the best playoff goalies. The Bruins signing him is extremely important and is significant to what they are trying to achieve as a team.
Signing Swayman Is Significant
Young homegrown talent does not grow on trees. The Bruins have a young homegrown goalie and he is locked up for the foreseeable future. He has been tabbed “the guy” for the Bruins and that’s significant. The seamless transition in net continues and the belief that Swayman can backstop them to a Stanley Cup is evident. This is a great day for the Bruins and Swayman and should make for a great 2024-25 season.
