I realize many here are not Joe Haggerty fans.
However, as with Ty Anderson, Haggerty has some perceptive things to say about the present circumstance.
I would therefore urge viewing the episode of "Pucks with Haggs," featuring guest Evan Marinofsky, posted last night.
Haggerty posits that if this thing does not get done within a week or two, the likelihood is that the Bruins will trade Jeremy Swayman.
At this point, I have to agree.
There are reasons for this.
Sweeney does not like Swayman's agent. To understate the matter considerably.
He likely feels the negotiating demand relative to payout and term is unearned and hence unwarranted.
The Bruins will not alter the way they do business to satisfy a headstrong, perhaps overreaching Swayman or assuage his pique over a bruising arbitration process he himself requested.
They are not going to treat a largely unproven Swayman as a special case deserving of dollars & years based on a small sample size and hope.
More to the point, Sweeney will not allow the situation to change or undermine the justly vaunted Bruins "culture."
Rather, if the Swayman camp remains unbending and a deal is not struck fairly soon, the player will be traded for the best return.
As Haggerty and Marinofsky correctly point out, Jeremy has flourished in a winning organization, surrounded by solid, talented teammates and a stable system.
It is unlikely he would enjoy a similar environment in Anaheim, Columbus, Utah or San Jose.
There is a point at which Swayman's insistence on digging in his heels begins to appear less the position of a principaled superstar in the making than the behavior of an immature, selfish young man willing to torpedo his teammates and flip off the fans in service of his own ego.
I believe we are at that point now.
I hope things work out, one way or another.