After Bruins president Cam Neely said Monday that they’d offered an eight-year, $64MM deal to RFA goaltender Jeremy Swayman that he didn’t accept, Swayman’s agent, SPM Sports’ Lewis Gross, said they’d never received that offer.
According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, Swayman’s camp is telling the truth. The $64MM figure referenced by Neely was a slight exaggeration – the highest total value Boston has offered on an eight-year deal is $62.4MM, Seravalli reports. That’s a cap hit of $7.8MM compared to the $8MM implied by Neely.
Still, that figure more than bridges the halfway point in negotiations. Seravalli adds that since the two sides have zeroed in on a maximum-term contract, the Bruins have held strong at a $52MM total value with a $6.5MM AAV, while Swayman’s representation wants a $68MM deal with an $8.5MM AAV.
“[The Bruins] probably think, ’Hey, we’ve moved a ton, now it’s your turn,’ and the fact that hasn’t happened apparently has them frustrated,” Seravalli said on Daily Faceoff’s Morning Cuppa Hockey show on Tuesday.
There’s no indication that a smaller gap of $700K per season will soon be bridged. Gross said in yesterday’s statement that Neely’s comment “was extremely unfair to Jeremy” and that they “will take a few days to discuss where we go from here.” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery also said that he fully anticipates Joonas Korpisalo being Boston’s opening night starter against the Panthers on Oct. 8.
Swayman has until Dec. 1 to sign a contract to be eligible to play this season. There’s no indication either side has turned their focus toward examining trade options regarding his signing rights, but the longer this goes without any movement, the possibility rises.
Swayman, 26 in November, finished seventh in Vezina Trophy voting last season after recording a 25-10-8 record with a .916 SV% and 2.53 GAA in 44 appearances.
$7.8 aav is more than fair for him. If he doesn’t think so then he should settle for a bridge deal and bet on himself.
Agreed.. yeah he has very good stats so far but as a 1a/1b tandem.. sign a 1-2 year bridge contract as the true #1. If he can show he is a true #1 then go max $ and term.. if he stumbles then bruins are not stuck with a $8 million boat anchor for 6 more years if signed to max 8 year instead of the 2 year bridge deal. Major problem with this is I think he would be a ufa after a 2 year bridge and if he is lights out then he can give the Bruins the big FU and walk..lol
Why would he take a bridge deal when he has the leverage to get money and term?
Well maybe because the bruins are not willing to give him what he is asking for. Will he take one? Probably not. Will Boston offer one?? Who knows…and as far as leverage goes neither side has much leverage… you have a player with about 130 games played in the NHL (Yes he has great numbers in that time) but he can’t file for arbitration as that chance for this year has passed.. so it’s sit or sign for him… Boston would be left with a weak goalie tandem if they don’t budge… but they would still have around $8 million in cap space to get someone else (who? Don’t know) but if they decided to do that then they leave him sit for the year and try again next year…lol so I guess who has leverage depends on what side you are looking from.
You just listed a couple of reasons that he has leverage and the Bruins don’t. The Bruins expect to compete at the highest level this season and running with Korpisalo, DiPietro, and Bussi was never the plan, along with there being no readily available options out there, unless they wanted to give away a bunch of assets in a big trade. They should have signed Swayman prior to getting rid of Ullmark. Regardless of his limited NHL experience, the goalie has the leverage here.
The leverage the Bruins have is they can leave him sit and use the cap to go after someone else. Is it strong leverage? No. But it’s leverage.. they say if you don’t want the $8 million we have we will go and try to find another one that will…. and might even wait till Dec 2nd to include you in the deal but you won’t be able to play till next year then..
Cam, stop lying. Do you want him of not?
Cam will change his tune and his offer after watching Korpisalo for a few games.
The Bruins have received good to great play from Swayman over the past several seasons for relatively cheap.
His camp clearly feels like that should be factored into his next contract, I tend to agree.
I’d request a trade out of Boston at this point.
I know Bruins ownership is famously tight-fisted & wouldn’t be surprised if they instructed Neely to drop the dime in public to gin up ill will against Swayman amongst the fans, but does it really pay to play these games & alienate the guy you supposedly want as your long-term future starting goalie?
That “tight-fisted” ownership has spent to the top of the cap every year since it came into exsistence.
Watching from the outside, I’m stunned by the ease by which the hockey team from Boston turned an enviable org. strength into a possible laughable disaster.
Swayman seems motivated to make a stand for the G market. We can debate the merits of the money being discussed; we can debate if Swayman is doing what’s best for himself. But Boston has possibly shot themselves in the foot (or even a more sensitive body part) over how they’ve handled the whole G matter.
No kidding. That is actually insane. Best one -two punch in the league to korpisalo doesn’t scream good asset management.
Swayman trade incoming?
Who could offer a decent goalie, for cheaper, and has the space for Swayman?
Detroit !!
LOL, the Wings have no cap space.
Buffalo has the space. And any team could use Swayman. But Buffalo wouldn’t trade UPL or Levi.
Montreal Primeau or Montembeault as we have Dobes & Fowler who will be with the Habs soon
I will just say if the Boston Bruins & Jeremy Swayman don’t come to terms a few weeks into the season then I suspect Swayman will request a trade which will force Boston’s hand on either caving to Swayman’s contractual terms or granting him a trade. If traded, there are only a handful or so teams that could take on Swayman’s contractual wants. Boston could potentially lose both Ullmark (who’s already gone) & Swayman because of really poor decision making by management in not getting things in order before making moves. It’s an interesting scenario to see how it’s going to play out.
Seems like whatever happens next, the Bruins have botched this. The initial question remains “how much,” but now it’s taken on a comedic pun.
would like to see him bet on himself.. take $7.75 for two years .. with an agreement in writing that it bumps to 5/$9mill per if he hits mutually agreed upon milestones
Zergas and Dostal for Swayman. Swayman to the Ducks would be deserving of this comedy show!
Don’t quit your day job.
Ducks are actually a good option….could help replenish the sad state of Boston’s prospect cupboard in addition to adding a goalie that aligns with their core.
So the Ducks will take on Swayman at 8 mil along with Gibson’s 6.4 million? What other team has 14.4 million invested into their goalies?
And the Bruins now have Korpisalo and Dostal as a tandem? I guess with Zegras’ amazing defensive game, he’ll cover up that they both combined for a -21 GSAA last year compared to Swayman at +18 GSAA?
Zero players on the Ducks roster named Zergas. You are fun to watch.
That dumb comment by Neely, Swaymen is asking for the Brinks truck and I don’t think he is worth it. Hopefully, they get a deal done. Just tired of hearing about it at this point.
I enjoyed the Take on Top Shelf Hockey late last night on the Swayman , fiasco , where it is discussed the Nylander incident between, Sweeney & Neely and getting into the current contract status for Swayman , where Sweeney was called a Puppet ,
link to youtube.com
Neely’s obviously frustrated but you cannot publicly say the player turned down an offer and divulge what the offer was. Especially if it’s not even accurate lol – that’s even worse. It does nothing to help the team’s position in negotiations.
If I’m Swayman, I’m digging in even harder with my demands knowing Neely’s on the defensive. That’s poor judgement on Cam’s part.
It’s debatable if Swayman was even the best goalie on his team last year. His stats were identical to Ullmark. The Bruins have a history of getting more out of goalies than other teams (Thomas, Halak, Ullmark…). Swayman may not have all the leverage he believes he does.
Then why haven’t they shipped him out and just run with the formidable trio of Korpisalo, DiPietro, and Bussi?
Any acquiring team will want him to sign a long term deal.
Maybe Columbus is interested in acquiring Swayman if that’s the case.
Both sides might be better off settling on a 1 year $6 million deal.