Player Discussion Jeremy Swayman: VII- Management Speaks

[Guelph Bruin]

I mean what would Gross have in hand from Boston to "refute" evidence wise? Tapes?

At some point you'll have to come to the conclusion that Gross is a piece of shit ...

 

[BTO]

I mean what would Gross have in hand from Boston to "refute" evidence wise? Tapes?

I’m just referring to the subheading in the article. It says “Swayman’s agent refutes the offer”. That’s incorrect. Swayman’s agent “disputes” it, not “refutes” it. I’m criticizing the writing. One would think that a newspaper editor, or copy-editor, would know how to use “refutes” correctly. But, alas, no.

Edit: I just noticed that Pierre LeBrun said “refuted” too. Unreal really.

 

[badbrewin]

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's not a fair analogy as the 7/1 UFA window is very narrow and they had pressing needs to address before those guys signed elsewhere. They had plenty of time to work the Swayman deal and left more than plenty of cap space open for him....never thinking he'd be looking to more than double his salary.

 

[NeelyDan]

Surely if there was a real offer, there is documentation somewhere of the offer being given.

If the bruins are adamant they offered it they should put Gross on blast and show their evidence.

This, if true, would not only confirm the Bruins were operating in good faith but it would literally destroy Gross

 

[Grimey]

Ok heres what scares me now:

Neely, having just conceded and approved going to 8, drops that out of frustration in the conference and Sway’s camp truly hasn’t heard that number yet

That, if true, is Cam directly hurting Swayman out of emotion - which we know he has lots of

I’m currently higher than the moon but someone walk me back off this branch

If Neely really wanted to hurt Swayman, he’d show up to his house in Alaska, pop in a tape of the 2024 playoffs, fast-forward through the first 12 games and 57-ish minutes of the final game, play the last goal the Panthers scored on him and mumble “thanks, Jeremy” without even looking at him, then leave unannounced.

 

[NeelyDan]

This, if true, would not only confirm the Bruins were operating in good faith but it would literally destroy Gross

Of course, if it can’t back them up timing wise….

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

I don't really care about asset management. I'm fine after 5 years letting him walk at age 30 if that is what is comes down to. All I want is for the Bruins to get him for his prime years (25-30). Maximize the Pasta/McAvoy/Swayman window. To do that they have to get him under contract. That's the bottom line. Losing the player, that's a loss for the Bruins and a win for Swayman because he'll get his money either way.

While true and agree about the goal being Swayman's prime, relenting and overpayment doesn't help either. The roster needs to be as strong as possible and a $9 million goalie who started more than 40 games once and more than 45 never is a tough sell.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Literally the only scenario that makes sense is Gross not telling Swayman about the offer.

What benefit would Neely have by lying about it.

I believe Gross not bringing an offer to a client would open him up to a lawsuit.

I can believe that one of the 2 parties is playing semantic games about exactly what $64m means, but I can't see why an agent would open himself up to an obvious lawsuit and having his license revoked by the league.

 

[SwayHeyKid]

At some point you'll have to come to the conclusion that Gross is a piece of shit ...

Could be, don't personally know him.

 

[ON3M4N]

So Boston says they've offered $64 million....Gross says this is news to him. The truth is somewhere in between. I don't believe either party is being 100% honest with their comments.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Honest to a fault? Did you forget the Mitchell miller saga that was riddled with lies from the bruins front office?

I won’t trust either side until a contract is officially signed.

"Today the Boston Bruins have decided to part ways with Mitchell Miller, effective immediately.
The decision to sign this young man was made after careful consideration of the facts as we were aware of them: that at 14-years-old he made a poor decision that led to a juvenile conviction. We understood this to be an isolated incident and that he had taken meaningful action to reform and was committed to ongoing personal development. Based on that understanding we offered him a contract.
Based on new information, we believe it is the best decision at this time to rescind the opportunity for Mitchell Miller to represent the Boston Bruins."

There was literally no new information to the story at all, other than the team signed him and got bad publicity for it.

 

[Gee Wally]

Its funny you put #TuukkasFault because I was just thinking that goalies seem to be such a lightning rod with Bruins fans. I mean if part of the fan base doesn't hate you are you really a #1 goalie for the Bruins?

It is the easiest position to vent fault on. Requires limited gray matter expended to scapegoat than to find real root cause(s).

 

[SwayHeyKid]

This, if true, would not only confirm the Bruins were operating in good faith but it would literally destroy Gross

And he would lose his license to represent players as well.

 

[Skelen]

Cam has more to lose lying than Gross does, and based on the history Gross has had with his previous clients it just smells fishy. I want to believe Cam and co. but who knows. I wish they would just sit in a room and hash this out instead of playing phone tag.

What a waste of time for everyone involved, I don't know how Sway hasn't marched down to the office and said either sign me or trade me.

 

[BTO]

This feels like two sides waging a semantics fight. Almost like they’re married for 20 years

Or are posters on this board.

 

[BruinDust]

You would be laughed out of every negotiation in history trying to bring that crap in.

Or I'd be the greatest sports agent in the history of planet earth.

Another poster said that Sweeney would just dismiss my argument (the Lindholm contract). I don't know what your experience is in business but in my experience, outright ignoring the other parties argument doesn't do much to further negotiations. Typically outright ignorance in a negotiation hardens the party who put forward the argument. A response is at the very least warranted, even if its not what the other party wants to hear. I'd love to hear Sweeney explain why he decided to pay an aging and declining player from outside the organization roughly the same as he's willing to pay Swayman who is younger and entering, not exiting, his prime. Contracts signed by Sweeney are fair game, doesn't matter who the player is or what position they play. In particular contracts recently signed. I don't really understand why that is so hard to comprehend.

Once again, if you want to believe this negotiation is simply a battle of goalie comparables, then go right ahead. I'm not that naive.

 

[Thirty Seven]

I just don't care anymore. Figure it out without involving the media.

If he signs, great. If he doesn't, that's a shame.

 

[Bodit9]

This, if true, would not only confirm the Bruins were operating in good faith but it would literally destroy Gross

Maybe not literally....

 

[RedSlider]

I think this is heading towards a trade at this point.

 

[Beesfan]

"This was the first time that number was discussed" hardly leaves room for gray.

I have no doubt Sweeney at least made an overt and obvious statement in negotiations that they would go to $64m.

Perhaps the technical offers are at 7x8 vs 9x8 and Sweeney said they could meet in the middle or split the difference.

Or Sweeney said they are willing to go up to 8m AAV but did not say anything about term, but they had only been discussing 8 yr term.

Gross is lying here. Neely's statement was deliberate and I am sure discussed with everyone prior to the press conference.

 

[Bruins4Lifer]

How is it structured as far as actual dollars per year?
Is their lockout protection?
Is their trade protection? Specifically what kind and how long?

The aav and years are the most important thing, but even agreeing on those would make one want to see all of the other things on paper and not just say "Sure we'll accept that anyway you feel like structuring it!!"

None of what's gone down today makes any sense if they are just down to hammering out those kinds of details in the deal.

If $64 million was the agreed total number by both sides right now, and it's just a matter of getting down to how it's structured and paid out over the years, we aren't hearing a peep from either side today.

 

[wintersej]

I have no doubt Sweeney at least made an overt and obvious statement in negotiations that they would go to $64m.

Perhaps the technical offers are at 7x8 vs 9x8 and Sweeney said they could meet in the middle or split the difference.

Or Sweeney said they are willing to go up to 8m AAV but did not say anything about term, but they had only been discussing 8 yr term.

Gross is lying here. Neely's statement was deliberate and I am sure discussed with everyone prior to the press conference.

Well that part I am less sure of. Not always a measured guy that thinks before he speaks that Neely.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

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.

I do not know the answer but what did Dallas give Oettinger? That is the rare one I'd replace Swayman with no hesitation.

 

[HustleB]

Put even simpler guys, imagine Sweeney pushing this into holdout territory where 8x8 wasn't on the table. It's dumb.

The other end of the lie makes WAY more sense.

Walk me through how the other side lying makes sense. I don't mean rehash why it doesn't make sense for the Bruins to lie. I mean what does Gross or Swayman have to gain through the lie.

 

[Blowfish]

Swayman s online 3 month Business degree vs . Harvard economics degree Sweeney. Don holds all the cards here. I smell trade.