Bruins sign Jeremy Swayman for eight years, $66 million: What does it mean and is it fair?

By Fluto Shinzawa, Pierre LeBrun and Shayna Goldman

Jeremy Swayman has signed an eight-year extension with an average annual value of $8.25 million to return to the Boston Bruins Team announced Sunday morning. The 25-year-old goaltender was a restricted free agent and is now the fourth-highest paid active goaltender in the NHL, tied with Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders, according to CapWages.

Swayman’s contract includes more than $20 million in signing bonuses, league sources report The athlete.

The agreement ends a negotiation that exploded after team president Cam Neely said he would have 64 million reasons to sign if he were the goaltender. Lewis Gross, Swayman’s agent, responded that there was never a $64 million offer.

The agreement defines Swayman as the Bruins’ No. 1 goaltender for the first time in his career – for today and tomorrow. For the last three seasons, Swayman shared the net with Linus Ullmark. Swayman’s postseason surge against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers helped convince Boston to trade Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators.

The Bruins also explored a move for Ullmark before the 2024 trade deadline, in part because they were confident Swayman could be their long-term starter.

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Swayman’s .933 playoff save percentage is the latest signal that he is poised to become one of the NHL’s elite goaltenders. Accordingly The athleteSwayman, Dom Luszczyszyn’s projected value is $11 million per year over eight years. Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million per year) is currently the highest-paid goaltender in the NHL.

Swayman’s average annual value of $8.25 million is well above his previous value of $3.475 million, which he claimed in a contentious arbitration hearing last year. Swayman’s appearance on Amazon’s documentary series “Faceoff: Inside the NHL” confirmed that discontent remained after the hearing. In retrospect, the Bruins should have chosen a two-year award given the length and nature of the disagreement.

With his new salary, Swayman joins the league’s top performers: Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million), Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million) and Sorokin ($8.25 million). Bobrovsky, Hellebuyck and Sorokin signed their contracts as they were set to become unrestricted free agents. Swayman was limited.

Swayman will receive the full first paycheck since he signed before the official start of the 2024-25 season.

What it means for the Bruins

Swayman will not start Tuesday’s regular-season opener against the Florida Panthers. Coach Jim Montgomery has already named Joonas Korpisalo as the starter for Game 1. It remains to be seen how much training Swayman will need before he is ready to play.

At some point, Swayman and Korpisalo will likely become a full-time tandem. This would require the Bruins to trade Brandon Bussi and Jiri Patera to AHL Providence. Both require exceptions.

Once Swayman is up to speed, he should continue his current development path as one of the NHL’s best goaltenders. However, it may take some time for him to get used to being without Linus Ullmark and taking on a larger workload.

Looking forward, the $8.5 million AAV should look more favorable for the Bruins as the salary cap increases and Swayman continues his growth. – Fluto Shinzawa, Bruins senior writer

Is it a fair value?

The $8 million limit is reserved for select goaltenders – Swayman joins Sorokin and Hellebuyck, while other Vasilevskiy are above that mark. The difference between Swayman and these goalies is their track record. Sorokin, Hellebuyck and Vasilevskiy are proven full-time No. 1 goalies who have shown they can be the backbone of their teams. Swayman, on the other hand, wasn’t even expected to be a starter until the 2024 postseason.

Swayman has yet to prove he can carry a heavier load, so it might seem shortsighted for the Bruins to jump to that high number. With that in mind, Evolving-Hockey’s forecast of eight years with an AAV of $6.6 million might have been more appropriate. But what Swayman has done the past two years — 2022-23 as a 1B and 2023-24 as 1A — has increased his value.

While the Bruins are known for their defensive identity, top-notch goaltending is a major key to their success. Swayman has delivered just that with sparkling numbers over the last two seasons. After Ullmark was traded, he gained even more influence in the negotiations. It’s easy to let all the drama surrounding the Swayman situation factor into the analysis. The player was vilified in the process and the team made any contract in the $8 million range controversial. The reality is that it’s a big turnaround for someone who hasn’t proven himself as a true No. 1 workhorse. But it’s worth betting on someone who could be one of the top five goalkeepers in the league this season. – Shayna Goldman, NHL staff writer

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(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)