Swayman camp denies Bruins provided goalie $64M

The contract standoff between the Boston Bruins and restricted free-agent Jeremy Swayman reached a brand new degree of contentiousness on Monday because the goaltender’s agent emphatically pushed again on what the group claimed it had provided him.

Swayman, 25, opted to not attend Bruins coaching camp with out a new contract. Coach Jim Montgomery mentioned that goaltender Joonas Korpisalo is anticipated to start out the Bruins’ season opener on Oct. 8 vs. the Florida Panthers.

At a preseason press convention on Monday in Boston, group president Cam Neely mentioned he believes Swayman needs to play in Boston however that it is “unlucky” a deal is not but accomplished.

“I do not wish to get into the weeds with what his ask is,” he mentioned, “however I do know that I’ve 64 million explanation why I might be taking part in proper now.”

Swayman’s agent Lewis Gross shot again on the Bruins on Monday night time, disputing these contract numbers whereas expressing disappointment within the group discussing them.

“Usually, I don’t launch statements or focus on negotiations via the media. Nevertheless, on this case, I really feel I have to defend my shopper. At at present’s press convention, $64 million was referenced. That was the primary time that quantity was mentioned in our negotiations. Previous to the press convention, no provide was made reaching that degree,” Gross mentioned in a press release on Instagram.

“We’re extraordinarily disenchanted. This was not truthful to Jeremy,” Gross continued. “We’ll take just a few days to debate the place we go from right here.”

The Bruins “respectfully handed” on addressing Gross’s feedback when contacted by ESPN’s Kristen Shilton.

Neely expressed shock over Swayman’s asking value, saying he believes Swayman needs to reset the goalie market together with his contract.

“I do. What his ask is, and what we consider his comp group is, are two various things,” Neely mentioned.

Swayman, 25, is anticipated to be the first beginning goaltender for the Bruins after they traded goalie Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators within the offseason. That duo was the NHL’s finest tandem during the last three seasons, serving to the Bruins to the bottom goals-against common (2.49) in that span. However Sweeney mentioned the duo needed to be damaged up out of wage cap and taking part in time considerations.

“We decided to chart a course. Each goaltenders requested to play 55 video games. That is not attainable for those who’re taking part in on the identical group,” Sweeney mentioned of the Ullmark commerce, which introduced Korpisalo to Boston. “We determined to decide. We had been snug going ahead with Jeremy. We knew what the possible return can be for Linus.”

Sweeney has been criticized for not having Swayman locked into a brand new deal earlier than buying and selling Ullmark, thus impacting the group’s leverage. The overall supervisor mentioned the commerce and the negotiation “are usually not linked,” however declined to elaborate on the place talks with Swayman had been when Ullmark was traded.

“I do not remorse that call one bit, when it comes to the choice we made to maneuver ahead and assault a number of the areas we may gain advantage from within the free agent market,” Sweeney mentioned.

Swayman is coming into his fifth NHL season. He has a file of 79-33-15, with a .919 save share and a 2.34 goals-against common.

Swayman made $3.475 million on a one-year contract final season, which was awarded via arbitration. He opted to not file for arbitration this offseason and the Bruins declined to take Swayman to arbitration, leaving his subsequent contract to be determined via negotiations between Sweeney and Gross.

There have been reviews that the Bruins provided Swayman an eight-year contract, the utmost size the NHL permits. There have additionally been reviews that Swayman’s camp is searching for upwards of $9.5 million in common annual worth on his subsequent contract. That will tie him with Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for the third highest cap hit within the NHL for goaltenders, behind Montreal’s Carey Worth ($10.5 million) and Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million).

Sweeney mentioned earlier at Bruins coaching camp that he anticipated Swayman would rejoin the group earlier than Dec. 1, which is the deadline for the contract to be legitimate for this season.