The Bruins have yet to re-sign goaltender Jeremy Swayman after both sides opted to pass on a repeat of last year’s arbitration process. While some fans are concerned that a deal isn’t done yet, the same can’t be said for team president Cam Neely. In an interview with WZLX (audio link), Neely indicated that he’s confident an agreement will be reached soon:
Not every negotiation is as smooth as you’d like it. I know our fan base would certainly love to have something done by now. But I’m fully confident that both sides will come to an agreement before too long here.
Swayman has been one of the top goalies statistically over the last two seasons, playing to a 2.41 GAA and a .918 SV% over that stretch in 81 appearances. Now that his platoon partner Linus Ullmark is in Ottawa, Swayman is the undisputed starter and is quite likely seeking a salary commensurate with that despite his single-season benchmark for games played being just 44. The Bruins have a little over $8.6MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, which should be plenty to keep Swayman in the fold.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News examines how the Sabres aren’t taking the normal development path when it comes to goaltender Devon Levi. Generally speaking, netminders are developed at a more gradual pace with many seeing 100 or more AHL appearances before becoming a full-time NHLer. However, Buffalo tried to bring Levi directly to the NHL from college before opting for a brief stint with AHL Rochester partway through last season. Even after adding James Reimer in free agency, it appears that Levi is expected to be Buffalo’s second goalie behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, meaning they will be attempting the rarer development path for him once again.
- The Canadiens were among the teams considered as a possible landing spot for Yaroslav Askarov, relays Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Montreal’s goalie tandem for the upcoming season appears to be set with Sam Montembeault’s new three-year deal beginning while Cayden Primeau is expected to get his first full NHL opportunity as the backup so it’s unclear if Askarov would have been given much of an NHL look in the short term. In the end, the top goalie prospect was moved to San Jose on Friday.
Let’s see what Levi can do in preseason. Having Reimer on a 1 year $1mil deal can allow Buffalo some leeway if Levi does not look ready during preason action.
Obviously Swayman has not forgotten about last year’s arbitration process!