We have quotes from Swayman about being mindful of future goaltending contracts and not being happy with his compariables during arbitration. . We have quotes from management about the comps they feel Swayman compares with in his peer group.Safe to say, they're using goaltending contracts to hash this out. I don't think I've ever heard of a goaltender trying to use a centerman's contract as a negotiate point but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Just flies in the face of everything we know about contract talks.
We know nothing about specific contract talks, but we should all know business negotiations can be ruthless (as we've seen today now from both sides), there are no rules in this, and if all this negotiation was a battle of goalie comparables like two posters going at each other on HF Boards, why has this taken so long to resolve? I mean seriously, there are only 60-odd goalies in the league and only I'd say 10-15 are realistic comparables. How long does it take for both sides to exhaust their list of comparables if all they can point to are goaltenders? They could of hashed this out in a week if that was the case.
Bottom line is Sweeney sent a message to the Swayman camp back in July when he decided to prioritize the Lindholm and Zadorov contracts and leaving what was left over for Swayman. The message was sent, we value these players from outside the organization more than you. That will ultimately prove to be a major mistake and flies in the face of pro sports management 101. Take care of your stars and the rest will fall into place. Prioritize mid-tier players over your stars and this will be the sort of circus you can expect. Right out of the Harry Sinden/Mike O'Connell playbook.
It's like when in the fall of 2020, they extended Kevan Miller and Chara was still unsigned. We knew right away that was odd, that they took care of Miller before Chara. And that is exactly how it played out.
The hockey world is laughing at the Bruins right now because it's clear as day now how this all ends. Some other organization will get themselves arguably the best young goalie on the planet for a nickel and two quarters.
Imagine the egg on Sweeney's face in April when he trades Swayman within the Eastern conference and both Swayman and Ullmark are leading their teams into the playoffs while the Bruins are going golfing.