What would a good contract for Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman seem like?

What would a fair contract for Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman look like? initially appeared on NBC Sports Boston

September is only a few days away and Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman remains to be a restricted free agent. Time to panic?

No.

These negotiations do not at all times get completed in a swift method. Bruins president Cam Neely gave an replace when requested concerning the Swayman contract talks final week.

“One thing will get completed. There’s no query,” Neely stated throughout an Aug. 22 radio look on WZLX’s The Rich Shertenlieb Show. “Not each negotiation is as easy as you’d prefer it. I do know our fan base will surely like to have one thing completed by now. However I’m absolutely assured that each side will come to an settlement earlier than too lengthy right here.”

Swayman is a extremely good netminder. He performed fairly nicely in the course of the 2023-24 common season after which took his efficiency to an even higher level in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was one of the best goalie by way of the primary two rounds and the clear MVP of Boston’s first-round series triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

So, what’s a good deal for Swayman? Nicely, there are a pair elements to contemplate.

To begin with, he is a prime 10 goalie, and he deserves to be paid as such. In reality, NHL Community launched their annual rating of the highest 10 goalies earlier this month and Swayman was No. 4. Even for those who disagree with the No. 4 rating, he is clearly nonetheless prime 10.

This is a take a look at the place Swayman ranks in necessary goalie stats over the past three seasons. Be mindful, with Swayman being simply 25 years outdated, an argument may very well be made that his greatest years are but to come back.

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Signing a contract that eats up unrestricted free company years can get costly. If Swayman signed an eight-year contract — the max time period allowed when a participant re-signs together with his personal crew — that deal would take him by way of the 2031-32 season. He could be 33 years outdated when it expires. The wage cap can also be anticipated to go up an honest quantity within the coming years. The cap is $88 million for the coming season and ought to be $90-plus million within the close to future.

The cap going up was really introduced up by Swayman when he was requested on a latest episode of the Shut Up Marc Podcast about his ongoing contract talks.

The Bruins have loved a extremely robust final 17 years that features 15 playoff runs, three journeys to the Stanley Cup Last and the franchise’s solely championship (2011) since 1972. An enormous think about that success has been goaltending. The B’s have had the luxurious of enjoying a prime 10 goalie for almost all of that run, together with gamers like Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask, Linus Ullmark and now Swayman.

Paying a goalie some huge cash shouldn’t be an enormous roadblock to successful the Stanley Cup.

Certain, a pair latest Stanley Cup champs — the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights, for instance — gained with out having an elite netminder. That stated, the Tampa Bay Lightning have gained a Stanley Cup and reached one other Cup Last whereas paying Andrei Vasilevskiy $9.5 million per 12 months. Sergei Bobrovsky is the second-highest paid goalie on a per 12 months foundation ($10 million) and has led the Florida Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Last appearances, together with a title final season.

So, what vary could be truthful for Swayman? Something between $6.75 million and $8.5 million per season could be a superb deal for each side. A deal in that vary would put him among the many prime 10 highest paid netminders. It is also necessary to recollect the Bruins have about $8.64 million in cap area proper now, per PuckPedia.

There are 5 goalies who can have a wage cap hit above $6.4 million subsequent season, per PuckPedia. Swayman, primarily based on his age, efficiency thus far, and the expectation of how nicely he’ll play sooner or later, deserves to affix this tier. However he would even be the least completed goalie on this group (with the potential exception of Ilya Sorokin).

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All 5 goalies on this tier have gained a Vezina besides Sorokin, however the Islanders netminder completed second in 2023 and sixth in 2022. Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy (two) have gained the Stanley Cup. Worth has led his crew to a Cup Last and gained Olympic gold with Canada in 2014.

Swayman merely does not have the resume of the 5 guys above (once more, with the doable exception of Sorokin). It isn’t all his fault, in fact. He has solely been within the league since 2020-21 and till the 2024 playoffs he had by no means been the clear No. 1 goalie in Boston.

Nevertheless you take a look at it, Swayman deserves a major increase, and it could behoove the Bruins to get him signed to a seven- or eight-year contract. He is an incredible participant. He is embraced the town and fanbase. He has the proper of temperament. He is precisely what you need in a beginning goalie.

Swayman is proficient sufficient to be a franchise cornerstone in Boston for a very long time. However each side want to seek out widespread floor on a contract for that to occur. Coaching camp is scheduled to start Sept. 18.