Player Discussion Jeremy Swayman: VII- Management Speaks

[smithformeragent]

BOSTON — Boston Bruins president Cam Neely suggested Monday that the team has made an eight-year offer to unsigned restricted free agent goaltender Jeremy Swayman at $8 million annually.

“I don’t want to get into the weeds with what his ask is,” Neely said at a news conference at TD Garden. “But I know that I have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now.”

Neely did not disclose what Swayman’s ask has been but said he was surprised by it.

So far, Swayman is holding firm to his demand. It aligns with his personality of not backing down, especially following his uncomfortable 2023 arbitration hearing. According to Neely, Swayman wants to set a new market for goalies, specifically ones under team control.

“What his ask is and what we believe his comp group is,” Neely said, “are two different things.”

General manager Don Sweeney said he remains in contact with Lewis Gross, Swayman’s agent. The Bruins are not interested in trading Swayman.

“Ultimately, we’re a better team, as I’ve said all along, if Jeremy is part of our hockey club,” Sweeney said. “That’s my intention. That’s my wish. I’ll continue to work to do that. I think Jeremy and the team are both hurt in this regard. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll continue to work hard to find a settling point.”

With only three preseason games left, it is likely Swayman will miss regular-season time, even if an agreement is pending. Coach Jim Montgomery designated Joonas Korpisalo as his goalie for the regular-season opener against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 8, regardless of Swayman’s situation. The Bruins have two full practices remaining in camp.

“Where we are in camp right now, with how well camp has gone and how well Korpisalo has done,” Montgomery said, “right now, he’s going to be our Game 1 starter.”

How good is the offer?​

Swayman would become the fifth-highest-paid goalie in the NHL under the Bruins’ offer, behind Sergei Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Connor Hellebuyck and Ilya Sorokin. Only Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million average annual value) signed his contract as a pending restricted free agent. The others were due to become unrestricted.

It is a significant payday for Swayman, considering he has never been a regular-season No. 1 goalie.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5806291/2024/09/30/bruins-cam-neely-jeremy-swayman/

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[Oates2Neely]

If Korpisalo plays well it’ll be goalie Bob who asks for 10m per season

 

[Bmessy]

Trying to reset the goalie market when you haven't played a full season is kind of hilarious. Can't negotiate with stupid. If that 64 mil is 8 for 8 then I think we will be waiting until December

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Settle for 4 or 5 years so Bruins have his prime and not saddled with an atrocious $9 million or more contract into his 30s.

Anything else then trade is acceptable but do not lose the trade.

 

[Ladyfan]

"He better hope Korpisalo doesn’t put up similar numbers while he’s out" was posted by @CDJ in the last thread.

I hope Korpisalo looks great! I also hope Sway signs. Two great net minders works for me

 

[BTO]

Round 7 - my money's on Cam. No way the kid can go 15 rounds with the champ!

 

[Gee Wally]

I’m going with a bridge. Somewhere 2 to 3 years. Still no more than 8M AAV.
Allows for cool down and each side to show why they think they are nearer to their value.

 

[Chevalier du Clavier]

Ah ok, so some fans are cool with what Neely did, simply because he didn't do it first. The eye for an eye mentality.


I'm still waiting on those sources of him going into a ton of detail. I'm still looking all over the internet and can't seem to find much


Where did I say anything about Gross is my post? How do we know that Gross leaked anything? Just seems like more and more speculation by fans to try and justify what side of the argument they are on.

Again, Neely speaking publicly is an anomaly. It aptly demonstrates his frustration with Swayman and Gross. Most fans (and yes, it's most fans), on the other hand, are tired of the act. They appreciate that Pasta, McAvoy, Bergeron, Marchand, Rask, etc., kept their negotiations quiet and didn't feed the fire. This is a classroom in how not to run talks.

 

[Absurdity]

Where did I say anything about Gross is my post? How do we know that Gross leaked anything? Just seems like more and more speculation by fans to try and justify what side of the argument they are on.

So all of these podcasts and media sites just made something up? It had to be someone in Swayman's camp or a correction made.

 

[Chevalier du Clavier]

I’m going with a bridge. Somewhere 2 to 3 years. Still no more than 8M AAV.
Always for cool down and each side to show why they think they are nearer to their value.

That would be sensible, although that seems to be seriously lacking in these talks.

 

[NeelyDan]

Jeremy watching the conference

 

[Ladyfan]

If Korpisalo plays well it’ll be goalie Bob who asks for 10m per season

Goalie Bob is a cool dude

 

[BruinDust]

Bingo.

Many will look at 8 x 8 and side with management over the player here, but the club is definitely getting a bargain here medium to long terms if he plays at the level many feel he will (Call it top 5).

I've been lurking all summer staying out of the debate. But the No.1 thing that is being ignored (or not considered strongly enough) here is how much the cap is expected to rise over the next 8 years. 88 million today. 5 years out are we over 100 million? Possibly.
It's one thing for GMs to use the early long-term deals on unproven young players based on very small sample sizes projecting out they will at the very least meet those contract expectations, and most likely exceed them. See recent deals like Dylan Gunthier, Slafkovsky, Jake Sanderson, etc. The higher the cap goes up, the bigger bargains they become.

But those guys will be up for new deals at 28 years old and able to get a 2nd massive deal. That tactic doesn't work so well to sign guys to max term at age 25/26 knowing that this will likely be the most important contract of their careers.

I think he's traded or they work out a bridge deal as has been suggested. I'd be floored if they two parties agree to a max term deal at this point.

 

[goldenblack]

It'll be the Mathews method. Bridge.

 

[Patdud]

At this point I go out of my way to not draft or sign players represented by Gross. He's a toxic agent that doesnt negotiate in good faith. This is probably the 4th/5th high profile case of his antics.

 

[NeelyDan]

I've been lurking all summer staying out of the debate. But the No.1 thing that is being ignored (or not considered strongly enough) here is how much the cap is expected to rise over the next 8 years. 88 million today. 5 years out are we over 100 million? Possibly.
It's one thing for GMs to use the early long-term deals on unproven young players based on very small sample sizes projecting out they will at the very least meet those contract expectations, and most likely exceed them. See recent deals like Dylan Gunthier, Slafkovsky, Jake Sanderson, etc. The higher the cap goes up, the bigger bargains they become.

But those guys will be up for new deals at 28 years old and able to get a 2nd massive deal. That tactic doesn't work so well to sign guys to max term at age 25/26 knowing that this will likely be the most important contract of their careers.

I think he's traded or they work out a bridge deal as has been suggested. I'd be floored if they two parties agree to a max term deal at this point.

You always add something new to any conversation you contribute to

 

[smithformeragent]

I've been lurking all summer staying out of the debate. But the No.1 thing that is being ignored (or not considered strongly enough) here is how much the cap is expected to rise over the next 8 years. 88 million today. 5 years out are we over 100 million? Possibly.
It's one thing for GMs to use the early long-term deals on unproven young players based on very small sample sizes projecting out they will at the very least meet those contract expectations, and most likely exceed them. See recent deals like Dylan Gunthier, Slafkovsky, Jake Sanderson, etc. The higher the cap goes up, the bigger bargains they become.

But those guys will be up for new deals at 28 years old and able to get a 2nd massive deal. That tactic doesn't work so well to sign guys to max term at age 25/26 knowing that this will likely be the most important contract of their careers.

I think he's traded or they work out a bridge deal as has been suggested. I'd be floored if they two parties agree to a max term deal at this point.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the club says something along the lines that the $8aav only applies at max term and the value on a bridge deal is closer yo$6.5-7m.

Can’t have your cake and eat it too.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the club says something along the lines that the $8aav only applies at max term and the value on a bridge deal is closer yo$6.5-7m.

Can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Which would follow all previous convention. So yeah. And it won’t be fewer than 4 years.

 

[Bruins4Lifer]

Maybe just wishful thinking, but I think this gets resolved fairly soon now, within a week.
Bruins turned up the heat today and I think it's in Swayman's camp to come to the table with a more reasonable ask.

8yr x $8.5M ask and then settle at $8.25M leaves both sides saving face and looking good.

 

[Bodit9]

It'll be the Mathews method. Bridge.

From the start, he should've targeted a 4 year $7M AAV contract then cash in as a UFA after with an 8 year deal ( assuming all went well).

 

[ON3M4N]

Again, Neely speaking publicly is an anomaly. It aptly demonstrates his frustration with Swayman and Gross. Most fans (and yes, it's most fans), on the other hand, are tired of the act. They appreciate that Pasta, McAvoy, Bergeron, Marchand, Rask, etc., kept their negotiations quiet and didn't feed the fire. This is a classroom in how not to run talks.

Here's the thing though.....Swayman really hasn't said anything about negotiations. If you're referring to his podcast appearance, he didn't divulge anything of detail. It was more about how he was more prepared for negotiations this time.

So all of these podcasts and media sites just made something up? It had to be someone in Swayman's camp or a correction made.

I mean I don't put anything past the media. They care more about being the first to report something and generating clicks and views. They don't care if its 100% true or not. For all we know the source of the info is someone who knows someone who knows Gross. Its a game of telephone where Gross could have said things with the Bruins are moving slower than he'd like and 2-3 people later that wording turns into "Swayman & his agent haven't heard from the Bruins in 3 weeks"

 

[BruinDust]

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the club says something along the lines that the $8aav only applies at max term and the value on a bridge deal is closer yo$6.5-7m.

Can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Agree that is where the value of a bridge deal would be. 6-7ish. Like you said, that's the trade off not signing for long-term.

 

[JRull86]

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the club says something along the lines that the $8aav only applies at max term and the value on a bridge deal is closer yo$6.5-7m.

Can’t have your cake and eat it too.

I think they've already tried this approach with that supposed 4 year 26 mil offer that the Spitting Chiclets clowns lambasted them over as a "low ball".

You don't get to earn 8+ mil and become UFA in 3/4 years. If that's your desired path, you make less for short term ability to rest the market quicker.

 

[SwayHeyKid]

I would be livid if I were Swayman. Has any player fired their agent and asked for a trade on the same day?

 

[Bruins4Lifer]

I also wouldn’t be surprised if the club says something along the lines that the $8aav only applies at max term and the value on a bridge deal is closer yo$6.5-7m.

Can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Yeah, I honestly couldn't see them going over $7M on a 4yr deal. Don't think Swayman should be too upset with type of offer either. Sets him up pretty nicely for a 7 or 8 year deal at 29 years old when the cap is over $100M.