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.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1840888733114982905

Swayman's camp fires back. Things are heating up!

 

[Itsnotatrap]

Swayman disputes the numbers being tossed around. Beyond the point of salvageable now.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1840888705877254151

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Swayman disputes the numbers being tossed around. Beyond the point of salvageable now.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1840888705877254151

 

[BlueDream]

This is wild. So one side is just outright lying lol.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1840816915616579975

Is this it for Sammy?

 

[Blanick]

If this Swayman thing blows up and he ends up asking for a trade out of Boston that could be fatal to the Bruins. To go from Swayman/Ullmark duo to Korpisalo/???.... oof.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1840816915616579975

Is this it for Sammy?

There's always the Kunlun Red Star!

 

[BlueDream]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1840816915616579975

Is this it for Sammy?

I’d say so. He still has an AHL contract I think but I see him going to Europe in a year.

If this Swayman thing blows up and he ends up asking for a trade out of Boston that could be fatal to the Bruins. To go from Swayman/Ullmark duo to Korpisalo/???.... oof.

That’s what I’m rooting for. There’s really no reason for Boston to be in this situation, having 2 goalies and fumbling it. I love the drama and hope they get screwed.

 

[joe galiba]

This is wild. So one side is just outright lying lol.

if it was me, it would irritate the fudge out of me and I would simply release the proof and tell the other side to suck it

 

[Bluesfan54]

Canucks released Hoffman from his PTO so that’s probably curtains for him, too.

 

[Itsnotatrap]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1840932507107168588

 

[Vladys Gumption]

If this Swayman thing blows up and he ends up asking for a trade out of Boston that could be fatal to the Bruins. To go from Swayman/Ullmark duo to Korpisalo/???.... oof.

It still baffles me that they traded Ullmark without having Swayman signed. Especially knowing how vocal he’s been about his displeasure with the arbitration process.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

It still baffles me that they traded Ullmark without having Swayman signed. Especially knowing how vocal he’s been about his displeasure with the arbitration process.

It's been a series of blunders over the last few months when it comes to Boston's plan in goal.

 

[Brian39]

In a vacuum, I don't have any issue with trading Ullmark before having a deal done. You should be able to take for granted that you can get an RFA signed when he still has two full seasons before he can go UFA.

However. that assumption generally rests on the notion that you have a good idea what the player wants, that you are willing to at least be in the ballpark, and are currently engaged in productive talks. It is pretty clear that this wasn't the case here. It certainly doesn't appear like the two sides were close to a deal in June that blew up right after the Ullmark trade.

All that said, I don't view the trade of Ullmark as the biggest blunder here. Boston appears to be tripping over themselves to damage the relationship with the player. They have botched the PR game at every turn and have clearly pissed off the player beyond what happens when you simply hold firm on an offer and exercise the leverage the CBA gives you. I view the PR/negotiation failure as a much larger failure than trading Ullmark first. Getting him signed to a fair contract by the end of October shouldn't have turned into a seemingly impossible task.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Certainly a series of blunders, the biggest of which, imo, was measuring the pulse of someone other than Swayman.

 

[Reality Czech]

It still baffles me that they traded Ullmark without having Swayman signed. Especially knowing how vocal he’s been about his displeasure with the arbitration process.

Friedman speculated that they did it when they did because Ullmark was able to submit a new no-trade list on July 1st, which may have included Ottawa or other places they could realistically send him. I get that logic, but they surely should have known where they stood with Swayman before making that decision. He seems like a jerk. I'd much rather have Binner at $6 million than whatever absurd amount Swayman is gonna get, especially with his attitude.

 

[PocketNines]

there were people here who wanted to spend ten years paying a buyout on Binnington

Let's hope he roars out to the Blues' all time #1 spot in October ...

I am very happy – and have consistently said this even in a downswing month – with the contract Armstrong gave Binnington. The Bruins would kill for Binnington at his number, he can win a Cup in that building. It is known.

 

[Brian39]

I wonder if we have reached the point where the relationship between the Bruins and Swayman is unsalvageable. That statement could just be the agent maximizing leverage, but I would genuinely be livid if I were in Swayman's shoes right now. The President of the team publicly misrepresenting their offer to apply pressure would probably be a line crossing moment for me if I were in his shoes. Going directly public with a number is shady negotiation tactics. Falsely inflating that number is a completely different level.

His agent says that they are going to take a few days to discuss where to go. I'd wager that the outcome of those discussions is a trade request and I'd bet that they are actively talking to teams about contracts. He's a free agent, so he is allowed to discuss every detail of a contract with any team in the league. Any team trading for him would absolutely have an agreement done before the trade.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he would take $8M x 8 years from another team just to hold a welcome press conference to say that he signed quickly because 'this team actually gave me $64M reasons to commit to them long term.' Maybe he still wants more, but I'd bet that his number to sign in Boston is now higher than the number he'd sign elsewhere.

I'm fascinated to see how this plays out.

I do wonder if there are avenues for the Blues and Bruins to discuss a Binner/Swayman swap. Swayman is a bit more than 5 years younger than Binner and certainly fits our retool timeline better. Additionally, if he holds out into November, a $64M total deal would see a bloated cap hit for this season (which we could easily fit) followed by a cap hit below $8M for years 2-8 of the deal. I don't know the exact calculations, but let's look at Nylander's 2018 deal as a comp. They gave him $45.09M over 6 years, which would usually be an AAV of $7.515M. However, since they signed it just before the 12/1 deadline, that deal carried a $10.277M cap hit in year 1 and a $6.96M cap hit in years 2-6.

If this holdout stretches deep into November, a receiving team that gives him $8M x 8 years would have to eat a very large cap number this season but would then get him at a cap hit in the mid-7s for years 2-8. That is pretty damn appealing and Army/owners have demonstrated a willingness to get creative structurally to maximize cap benefit.

 

[SirPaste]

It was defnitely very dumb IMO of Neely to come out and say that, especially if it wasn't true. But I think it should be remembered that Swayman is the one who took things public first when he was leaking info to the Spittin Chiclets guys to call out Sweeney for not returning their calls, which the Bruins denied. Either way, one side is clearly lying to the public and the whole thing is a mess. I agree that I wouldn't be surprised to see them part ways sooner than later.

 

[Itsnotatrap]

Trying to remember specifics, and they allude me at the moment, but I recall at least an old pattern when players leave Boston they take a lot of media hits on the way out.

A real escalation to drop things like that in a press conference in the middle of an already contentious negotiation vs kicking someone when they already on the way out.