Player Discussion Jeremy Swayman: VII- Swayman's agent basically calls Cam a liar

[smithformeragent]

@Gee Wally

We have numerous deletions and more in here. We know tension and emotions are high.
But you folks must simply stop taking personal shots at each. Stay to topic.

If not we will be left with no choice other than adding thread bans.

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/

Click to read more...

 

[NDiesel]

It's more like the rules change when the Bruins do it.

For some sure, I can only comment on myself. Don't blame either side for using what tactics they feel they need to, I'm sure both have some greasiness involved

 

[SwayHeyKid]

Liar liar pants on fire.........and if that's the way he wants his agent to deal with this it's saying to me that being a Bruin isn't as important to him as he claimed it was. In fact, he might have been bitter from arbitration and he lied from the outset to the Bruins (which is why they believed him and traded Ullmark). So ultimately it's all bs and none of it matters.

Swayman had a simple choice here. With Neely putting the 64 million number out there Swayman could easily have just said, 64 million? Get me a pen, I'm there tomorrow. But he chose to let his agent make this ugly so I don't think he ever really cared about being a Bruin or not. 64 million is a generous overpay and if he doesn't want it, end this now. Goodbye Jeremy, enjoy being a Duck (or whatever)

Trade him for a top 6 winger.

after that stunt? I'm sure he is thinking if he even wants to play with them after their "coordinated effort" to embarrass him.

Also, the offers if true were at 7.5 per up until Neely's lie of 8 which was 2 days ago. So he shouldhave signed for 7.5?

 

[lopey]

Is the writing on the wall for Swayman?

Backup to korpi

 

[ranold26]

Felger and Mazz lol

 

[Greek_physique]

Is the writing on the wall for Swayman?

This could also be planned if Bussi has to clear waivers

 

[LSCII]

Neither Am I but the cap and players have limitations. Does that cap hit make the Bruins a cup contending for the next 8 years if that's his ask?

Answer is nobody knows but Im willing to bet the real answer will be no. Never bet on a goalie being nothing better than good to average over an Eight year period.

The real cap question you should be asking isn't if slightly overpaying a top tier goalie in the short term is a problem. You should be asking why the team is paying nearly $8 mill for their 3rd pairing of defensemen. That's a far bigger issue in terms of the cap ramifications. Not overpaying a good player early, since the contract will be a bargain in a couple of years.

 

[analyser]

How so? The past three years he has won the Presidents Trophy (around here that means a heck of alot), goaltended his team to a finals and did it again but won this time.

He is a hell of a one man team.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

Liar liar pants on fire.........and if that's the way he wants his agent to deal with this it's saying to me that being a Bruin isn't as important to him as he claimed it was. In fact, he might have been bitter from arbitration and he lied from the outset to the Bruins (which is why they believed him and traded Ullmark). So ultimately it's all bs and none of it matters.

Swayman had a simple choice here. With Neely putting the 64 million number out there Swayman could easily have just said, 64 million? Get me a pen, I'm there tomorrow. But he chose to let his agent make this ugly so I don't think he ever really cared about being a Bruin or not. 64 million is a generous overpay and if he doesn't want it, end this now. Goodbye Jeremy, enjoy being a Duck (or whatever)

Trade him for a top 6 winger.

How the hell are they getting a top six winger for a malcontent ego maniac with no resume who is demanding $10M/yr to play a worthless position?

You’re dreaming.

 

[TD Charlie]

An elite goalie doesn't guarantee a cup. Nothing does. But it guarantees you're a contender.

A bad goalie means you're in the lottery, period

I get what you’re going for, but no

 

[LSCII]

Liar liar pants on fire.........and if that's the way he wants his agent to deal with this it's saying to me that being a Bruin isn't as important to him as he claimed it was. In fact, he might have been bitter from arbitration and he lied from the outset to the Bruins (which is why they believed him and traded Ullmark). So ultimately it's all bs and none of it matters.

Swayman had a simple choice here. With Neely putting the 64 million number out there Swayman could easily have just said, 64 million? Get me a pen, I'm there tomorrow. But he chose to let his agent make this ugly so I don't think he ever really cared about being a Bruin or not. 64 million is a generous overpay and if he doesn't want it, end this now. Goodbye Jeremy, enjoy being a Duck (or whatever)

Trade him for a top 6 winger.

The trade value for goalies is notoriously low and always has been. This is one of the many reasons why his value is greater to the Bruins than it is to other teams.

 

[Fingertools]

If he considered less important, then he should be paid as such.

Then no one should keep referring to his 1 playoff round win, after all, he's less important than anyone else

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

That cap hit isn’t the only consideration in whether or not the Bruins are Cup contenders.

Going with Korpisalo and Bussi (or Patera now I guess) however? That ensures you won’t be sniffing a Cup.

You answer the question is a round about way. Swayman can turn out to be just like those guys. 8 years is a longtime

So we will stink wo Swayman is your position.

I don't agree.

 

[Coach Parker]

Do they make it with Korpisalo playing 45 games and Bussi backing up??

Yes. But not in the spot they wanted. They give up home ice advantage to the Leafs.

The entire season is just a warm-up for the Leafs / Bruins series, right?

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

An elite goalie doesn't guarantee a cup. Nothing does. But it guarantees you're a contender.

A bad goalie means you're in the lottery, period

This is flat out wrong.

The Vezina winner last season was on a team that lost in the first round.

Oilers made the finals with some of the worst goaltending in the league.

Where did you get this one from lol.

 

[Coach Parker]

My only hesitation in all of this is when people point to Gibson as comp and I pause, look at how that has worked out for Anaheim and then hesitate once again.

 

[CheerstoBeers]

How many olive branches do they need to give up, If we believe the reports the Bruins have made dramatic upward movement in their offers, which Sway has seemed to stay rather fixed. And if he turns down 8.25 do they need an olive branch at 8.5?

Swayman is going to lose 600+ K on October 15, and then moving forward. So each paycheck he would miss is basically the equivalent of losing 80K per year on the long term deal

Anything reported on offers and what Swaymans starting ask was is basically speculation. We don't know how much Swayman moved, maybe he started at 10 and he's down to 9, the Bruins starting at 6.5 and coming up from that certainly isn't an olive branch, everyone and their dog knows the number wasn't gonna be anywhere near 6.5.. I'd say basically Bruins came up a million, Swayman came down a million but their still pretty much a million apart. The olive branch is basically to mend the fences for Neely going public and embarrassing Swayman, even if we the fans thought it was great, Swayman certainly wouldn't have appreciated it. Doubtful Swayman takes 8 x 8 after that presser cause then it looks like he caved to the Bruins strong arming him . Come up a bit and let him think he won and admit going public was a mistake and move the f*** on for the benefit of everyone including the rest of the team and the fans.

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

The real cap question you should be asking isn't if slightly overpaying a top tier goalie in the short term is a problem. You should be asking why the team is paying nearly $8 mill for their 3rd pairing of defensemen. That's a far bigger issue in terms of the cap ramifications. Not overpaying a good player early, since the contract will be a bargain in a couple of years.

Why will it be a bargain? because we will have more money to spend if and when the cap goes up? One has nothing to do with the other in my view.

A players worth is a players worth. As far as over paying for defenseman Im ok with that. The goalies don't mind either because it helps them look better than they really are.

I will go on record and predict Korpo will look underpaid this season.

 

[The Murph]

Eh, I'm offering up a counter point to the folks that were saying how Cam and Don don't negotiate via the media earlier this week, and blaming the leaks on Gross without any actual proof. Only to then use Cam's media driven "offer" as proof the team was making a real concerted effort to sign the guy without seeing the irony of it all.

If you don't like it, don't read it and don't respond to it. Either way, it's f***ing hilarious to me to point out the hypocrisy.

That last line is a head slapper.

You're talking about hypocrisy, but before that you say, "If you don't like it, don't read it and don't respond to it."

Well...if you don't like things....then maybe you shouldn't read things...and you shouldn't respond to things. Although, that's all you do.

Otherwise, fine with counter points, yours is just extreme.

But whatever, enjoy your attention...

 

[DaBroons]

Bruins GM made the blunder not accepting that 2nd year in arbitration.

If it's true that Sway was offered $6.5M for 8 years (almost $10M less over the first 7 years than what they gave Elias Lindholm), I would say that is a blatant slap in the face and reason enough to feel angry and no doubt started negotiations on the wrong foot.

$6.5M for 8 years is an insult and IMO not a very credible act of good faith.

I don't care if it was a "first offer" or not, Neely said in the presser that one of the things he likes about Sweeney is that "Donny doesn't lowball".

Respectfully disagree.

$6.5 would put Sway above Gibson but below Saros, and make him the 7th highest paid goalie in the league.

Swayman's ask would put him above not only Saros, but also Sorokin and then Hellebuyck into 4th highest. IMO, he doesn't have the track record to be above Saros and Hellebuyck.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

You answer the question is a round about way. Swayman can turn out to be just like those guys. 8 years is a longtime

So we will stink wo Swayman is your position.

I don't agree.

You can say that about any contract. That the guy could stink in a few years.

Korpisalo stinks today. And they don’t have a backup with any NHL experience whatsoever. From the catbird seat to a laughingstock at the goaltending position. The rest of the team may be okay (may not be - we’re not sure). But I promise the Bruins have no chance if Korpisalo X Bussi is the result of this nonsense. None.

 

[Pia8988]

This is flat out wrong.

The Vezina winner last season was on a team that lost in the first round.

Oilers made the finals with some of the worst goaltending in the league.

Where did you get this one from lol.

Edmonton had volatile goaltending. Not one of the worst. One of the worst got spanked in round one and now plays in Boston

 

[lopey]

Some pro Swayman sign him to 9.5 mill camp think he is entitled to that amount based on winning one fing series. He does not have the 9.5 million resume.

 

[Beyonder]

I'm going with: This is all just business and it'll evaporate into thin air once it's over. It's a fight over money. One side wants to keep more of it, one side wants to get more of it. That's all it is.

 

[danpantz]

Why would swayman be embarrassed by the Bruins saying they offered him 64 million if he wasn’t ever going to accept it anyways? Was embarrassed by the offer being to low?

I do know Sweeney and Cam were embarrassed a few times by Gross leaking stuff to Chiclets about the negotiation though.

 

[lopey]

Edmonton had volatile goaltending. Not one of the worst. One of the worst got spanked in round one and now plays in Boston

Who you talking about?