Around the NHL 2024-2025

[Linkens Mastery]

The Bruins Swayman thing it's getting aired out in the open. Gonna need some popcorn for this.

 

[Stealth JD]

The Bruins Swayman thing it's getting aired out in the open. Gonna need some popcorn for this.

Swayman is a dope if he doesn't sign 8 x $8M, and i don't begrudge the Bruins one bit if they don't waiver from that number. Let him sit out; he's basically got no leverage here and he'll be hard-pressed to make up that loss in career earnings if he forgoes this season by sitting out in contract dispute.

 

[Reality Czech]

NHL Network/NHL.com has released the #50-#11 best players in the NHL with the top 10 to come. The top 10 players, not the order, ase obvious by who is missing. There are zero Blues in the Top 50.

Top 50-41 List:
#50 Guentzel TB; #49 Swayman Bos; #48 Dobson NYI; #47 Werenski Clb; #46 Slavin Car; #45 Connor Wpg; #44 Morissey Wpg; #43 Forsberg Nas; #42 Larkin Det; #41 Hintz Dal

Top 40-31 List:
#40 Dahlin Buf; #39 Toews Col; #38 Bedard Chi; #37 Stamkos Nas; #36 B. Tkachuk Ott; #35 Hyman Edm; #34 Bouchard Edm; #33 Aho Car; #32 Marner Tor; #31 Reinhart Fla;

Top 30-21 List:
#30 JT Miller Van' #29 Nylander Tor; #28 Pettersson Van; #27 Fox NYR; #26 McAvoy Bos; #25 Kaprizov Min; #24Vasilevsky TB; #23 Robertson Dal; #22 Hellebuyck Wpg; #21 Forsling Fla

Top 20-11 List:
#20 Jack Hughes NJD; #19 Heiskanen Dal; #18 Josi Nas; #17 Eichel VGK; #16 Point TBL; #15 Panarin NYR; #14 Pastarnak Bos; #13 Rantanen Col; #12 Hedman; #11 Crosby

Remaining 10 (unsure order) : Hughes, Van; Makar Col; M. Tkachuk Fla; Kucherov TBL; Shesterkin NYR; Barkov Fla; Draisaitl Edm; Matthews Tor; Mackinnon Col; McDavid Edm.

They also ranked the positions individually. Thomas was ranked the 18th best C and outside the top 50. No other Blue was ranked in the top 20 C, top 20 Wing, top 20 D or top 10 Goalie.

When some of us talk about needing elite talent, this is what we mean. Thomas should be there, but we need more. Some teams have 3-4 guys. Montreal, Washington, Philly, Utah, LA, Calgary, Seattle, and San Jose are the only other teams without players. Not the company we want to be in.

Lists like these are partially driven by a team's performance on the ice and have a lot of recency bias. If the Blues can play better as a team, then our players will get more attention from national media. Of course, Thomas and Kyrou need to keep improving until other people notice but they won't make a list like this until the team gets better as a whole (or they go off for 90+ points or something crazy).

Would Hyman be on this list if he wasn't stapled to McDavid? Would Toews be so high if he didn't get to play with Makar in Colorado?

I think Thomas has the ability to be better than Larkin, Kyrou can be as good or better than Connor, Guentzel and Hyman and Binnington surely can be better than Swayman. But talk is cheap so them and the rest of the team will have to prove it. I definitely agree with the sentiment of your post but a lot can change from year to year on lists like this.

Swayman is a dope if he doesn't sign 8 x $8M, and i don't begrudge the Bruins one bit if they don't waiver from that number. Let him sit out; he's basically got no leverage here and he'll be hard-pressed to make up that loss in career earnings if he forgoes this season by sitting out in contract dispute.

Gotta say I've always loved Neely on and off the ice and that's definitely still true today lol

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

If they truly did offer 8x8 then Swayman would be nuts not to take it. That's more than fair.

At this point it's all about Swayman turning the screws because he's still sour over what happened last offseason.

 

[Brian39]

The Bruins Swayman thing it's getting aired out in the open. Gonna need some popcorn for this.

I think Boston is making a mistake by taking public shots the way Neely did today, but I very much agree that they are doing the right thing by making their offer public. $8M x 8 years is a very reasonable offer from them. You can argue that the goalie market should be re-set, that Swayman will quickly be worth more than an $8M AAV that once he gets a season as the clear #1 under his belt, or that it is in both sides' best interest to try and find a number that makes sense for both on a 3-5 year deal. I have a lot of time for an argument that Swayman shouldn't sign an $8M x 8 deal.

But even if you believe all those things, $8M x 8 years is a perfectly reasonable number from the team.

I wonder if Swayman regrets not filing for arbitration this year. I know he hated the process last time, but he had a better case to present after last season and he would have gotten a raise that would have given him all the leverage next summer. A $5M arbitration award would have given him the ability to lock in at least $10M over the next 2 seasons before going UFA in the summer of 2026. Now, he's looking at the possibility of sitting out a year just to still be an RFA.