Speculation: The Bruins and Jeremy Swayman are far apart in contract term (length) and dollar amount.

[SPV]

He really can’t be asking for 9 or more. Sorokin and Hellebuyck just got extended for less than that and have better resumes. I’ve said for a while that it should be 8x8, I think it’s too much, but we can afford it and supposedly the cap is going up.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Why would they ever sign him to a 1 or 2 year deal in a million years?

So they shouldn't sign him to an 8 year deal. Or a 1 or a 2. So only what's best for Boston. K

I think this is the biggest issue.

Swayman to max his salary it is either 1 or 2 years to prove or pay up for 8.
Boston wants a long term cheap contract but Swayman knows he is worth more.

Curious what they do.

A 7x3 deal locks him for 3 years and 21 million.

Be 28 when he needs a new deal 28 to 36 or 28 to 35 locks good years.

 

[JKG33]

He really can’t be asking for 9 or more. Sorokin and Hellebuyck just got extended for less than that and have better resumes. I’ve said for a while that it should be 8x8, I think it’s too much, but we can afford it and supposedly the cap is going up.

Sorokin, the guy who lost the job to the backup? Hellebuyck the guy who turns into a fraud in the playoffs?

Swayman hasn't had an opportunity to put up a vezina season like those two have, but he also hasn't been as bad as them at their worst either

 

[SPV]

Sorokin, the guy who lost the job to the backup? Hellebuyck the guy who turns into a fraud in the playoffs?

Swayman hasn't had an opportunity to put up a vezina season like those two have, but he also hasn't been as bad as them at their worst either

Exactly why it’s a risk to give him more money. Thanks.

 

[JKG33]

Exactly why it’s a risk to give him more money. Thanks.

It's a risk to give a player money? Wow what a revelation.

And I'm not sure how Swayman being more consistent than those two proves your point, but you do you

 

[Armourboy]

I get why Boston doesn't want to give him that kind of money, he had a good playoffs but he hasn't ever played 60 games in a season, and you have no real track record to go on. Even 8 x 8 is a huge gamble under those conditions.

As for those that think Swayman has Boston over a barrel, he doesn't, and every day that ticks off towards December 1st he loses a little more of whatever leverage he does have.

For those saying he can go play in Europe, its not going to happen, because no one in Europe is going to pay him 5-6 million for the season, and if he has an agent that is trying to get every dime out of a team he is not going to let Swayman lose that kind of money. Any way you want to look at it that would be hard to scratch back even over a 10 year career.

So yeah Boston may hurt a little while until he signs, so what? Its better to have a little short terrm pain now than to be dealing with an overpaid goalie for the next 8 years.

Based on what he has proven so far I don't think any organization would be willing to fork out an 8 year deal anywhere close to 8 a season, let alone anywhere close to 10. Thing is teams usually will take gambles on contracts like this to save a bunch of money on the back end if they really believe in a guy, but at 9-10 million a season you aren't saving enough to be worth taking that gamble.

 

[Stephen]

I get why Boston doesn't want to give him that kind of money, he had a good playoffs but he hasn't ever played 60 games in a season, and you have no real track record to go on. Even 8 x 8 is a huge gamble under those conditions.

As for those that think Swayman has Boston over a barrel, he doesn't, and every day that ticks off towards December 1st he loses a little more of whatever leverage he does have.

For those saying he can go play in Europe, its not going to happen, because no one in Europe is going to pay him 5-6 million for the season, and if he has an agent that is trying to get every dime out of a team he is not going to let Swayman lose that kind of money. Any way you want to look at it that would be hard to scratch back even over a 10 year career.

So yeah Boston may hurt a little while until he signs, so what? Its better to have a little short terrm pain now than to be dealing with an overpaid goalie for the next 8 years.

Based on what he has proven so far I don't think any organization would be willing to fork out an 8 year deal anywhere close to 8 a season, let alone anywhere close to 10. Thing is teams usually will take gambles on contracts like this to save a bunch of money on the back end if they really believe in a guy, but at 9-10 million a season you aren't saving enough to be worth taking that gamble.

I can see why Boston would hesitate to give franchise goalie money to a homegrown platoon guy.

 

[Armourboy]

I can see why Boston would hesitate to give franchise goalie money to a homegrown platoon guy.

I mean the Preds just signed Saros, and that's a guy that has been carrying the load for multiple seasons and lots of fans don't think he was worth the contract he got and Swayman is apparently wanting more than that.

If you are Boston's GM its all a matter of risk vs reward. 8 years at 6 million a season the risk of the long term deal is outweighed by the possible reward, that is worth the gamble. However, at 10 million x 8 its all risk with almost no reward.

If he lives up to the contract that is great, but you didn't really save anything on the back end to take that risk. You basically just got what you paid for. However, if he falls off you can't even just say it was better than it could have been in that situation.

I think we tend to forget as fans sometimes that GM's want to sign their good players, its good for the team and its good for the players. The thing is though it gets real iffy when that guy might be good, but hasn't proven that over the long term yet. The franchises that make the playoffs year in and year out do so because they generally mitigate the risk while keeping their talent.

 

[Stephen]

I mean the Preds just signed Saros, and that's a guy that has been carrying the load for multiple seasons and lots of fans don't think he was worth the contract he got and Swayman is apparently wanting more than that.

If you are Boston's GM its all a matter of risk vs reward. 8 years at 6 million a season the risk of the long term deal is outweighed by the possible reward, that is worth the gamble. However, at 10 million x 8 its all risk with almost no reward.

If he lives up to the contract that is great, but you didn't really save anything on the back end to take that risk. You basically just got what you paid for. However, if he falls off you can't even just say it was better than it could have been in that situation.

I think we tend to forget as fans sometimes that GM's want to sign their good players, its good for the team and its good for the players. The thing is though it gets real iffy when that guy might be good, but hasn't proven that over the long term yet. The franchises that make the playoffs year in and year out do so because they generally mitigate the risk while keeping their talent.

Well, I just remember how Ullmark and Swayman were kind of an unknown duo at the time of Rask's retirement. As an outsider I lowkey think they can get very serviceable goaltending out of Korpisalo and Bussi at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Reality Czech]

Sorokin, the guy who lost the job to the backup? Hellebuyck the guy who turns into a fraud in the playoffs?

Swayman hasn't had an opportunity to put up a vezina season like those two have, but he also hasn't been as bad as them at their worst either

He hasn't had a chance to fail either. Very few full-time goalies are amazing all the time because there are so many other factors that go into a goalie's performance. Until Swayman adds a bit more to his own resume, I'm not sure why he thinks he deserves as much or even more than those two guys.

 

[TD Charlie]

I mean the Preds just signed Saros, and that's a guy that has been carrying the load for multiple seasons and lots of fans don't think he was worth the contract he got and Swayman is apparently wanting more than that.

If you are Boston's GM its all a matter of risk vs reward. 8 years at 6 million a season the risk of the long term deal is outweighed by the possible reward, that is worth the gamble. However, at 10 million x 8 its all risk with almost no reward.

If he lives up to the contract that is great, but you didn't really save anything on the back end to take that risk. You basically just got what you paid for. However, if he falls off you can't even just say it was better than it could have been in that situation.

I think we tend to forget as fans sometimes that GM's want to sign their good players, its good for the team and its good for the players. The thing is though it gets real iffy when that guy might be good, but hasn't proven that over the long term yet. The franchises that make the playoffs year in and year out do so because they generally mitigate the risk while keeping their talent.

8 years at 6mil is worth the gamble?

No shit.

That wouldn’t be a gamble, but more of a steal of the century for Boston

 

[Armourboy]

8 years at 6mil is worth the gamble?

No shit.

That wouldn’t be a gamble, but more of a steal of the century for Boston

Actually it is. Swayman has not been the guy over the course of a season yet. He had a good season as a 1B, and then did well in the playoffs, that's not a guarantee of any kind. He could very well sign that deal and you find out that once he is playing almost every day he just isn't good at handling that load.

I look at it like this, if Boston's GM felt confident about him 8 x 8 at a min would be on the table, and from what I'm reading here it doesn't seem to be. I feel like they could have bridged the gap by now between 8 and 9.5 if that was the case.

If the team is offering 6-6.5 that tells me its not just about the money, its a lack of confidence in the situation which means that is where the Boston GM feels that risk/reward line is.

 

[TD Charlie]

Actually it is. Swayman has not been the guy over the course of a season yet. He had a good season as a 1B, and then did well in the playoffs, that's not a guarantee of any kind. He could very well sign that deal and you find out that once he is playing almost every day he just isn't good at handling that load.

I look at it like this, if Boston's GM felt confident about him 8 x 8 at a min would be on the table, and from what I'm reading here it doesn't seem to be. I feel like they could have bridged the gap by now between 8 and 9.5 if that was the case.

If the team is offering 6-6.5 that tells me its not just about the money, its a lack of confidence in the situation which means that is where the Boston GM feels that risk/reward line is.

Fair. I disagree completely but that’s certainly an opinion

 

[seanlinden]

The B’s are dumb not to sign Swayman. He was excellent in the playoffs last season and there are no FA goalies who can replace him in the lineup. Trading for a replacement will cost you a top 6 player. Jacob’s is just such an a….ole.

I don't think it's a situation where they don't want to sign Swayman... it's probably a situation where they want to pay him as a high end tandem goalie for the next 3-5 years, versus paying him a top 3/4 paid goalie in the league on a long term deal, when he's played a career high of 44 games.

 

[seanlinden]

He really can’t be asking for 9 or more. Sorokin and Hellebuyck just got extended for less than that and have better resumes. I’ve said for a while that it should be 8x8, I think it’s too much, but we can afford it and supposedly the cap is going up.

To be fair... Connor Hellebuyck is 31 years old and Sorokin is 29. Both of those deals, there's probably a bit of an underlying sense "this is going to turn rough towards the end".

Swayman is 25. If he's going to sign a deal that takes him to 33, he probably needs to get close to $10m, because it's going to be by far his biggest deal.

Sorokin & Hellebuyck also raise the challenge of why it probably doesn't make sense to sign anything 4 or 5 year deal.... because even if the next 4-5 years go great then when it comes time to negotiate another one, he's negotating a deal that he knows is likely to turn rough.

If Swayman thinks there's a team out there willing to give him a $9m+ 8-year bag, and to be honest, there probably is, there's a lot of teams who a deal like that would make a ton of sense for, then it is certainly in his best interest to do everything he can to get that.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Just pay the poor guy. He needs to feed his family!

 

[TGWL]

Sorokin, the guy who lost the job to the backup? Hellebuyck the guy who turns into a fraud in the playoffs?

Swayman hasn't had an opportunity to put up a vezina season like those two have, but he also hasn't been as bad as them at their worst either

This is just a terrible counter post. You used Sorokin as an example after he signed the contract. I think you missed the point. What Sorokin didn't do for this team last season is pretty irrelevant to an argument on Swayman's worth being more, and probably pushes that argument in the opposite direction as goalies can be hit or miss.

 

[KurtDangle]

Cam Neely just said Bruins have offered Swayman 64m (8x8). WOW!

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Cam Neely just said Bruins have offered Swayman 64m (8x8). WOW!

Yeah that completely changes things. Now we know Swayman is the unreasonable one here. 8x8 is a hell of an offer and a perfect middle ground with each side giving up a million or so

 

[FrankerC]

Neely just implied a 8x8 offer saying, Swayman has “64 million reasons to be playing right now”. If Swayman is trying to milk a bit more out, they need to think of possibly moving on. 8x8 is a perfectly fine deal (maybe overpay).

 

[OVO16]

Cam Neely just said Bruins have offered Swayman 64m (8x8). WOW!

Dont blame Swayman for holding off. He easily deserves over 9M

Also Neely just outright saying that to the media cant make Swayman and his agent happy

 

[Ivo]

Dont blame Swayman for holding off. He easily deserves over 9M

Also Neely just outright saying that to the media cant make Swayman and his agent happy

8M is plenty for a guy who hasn’t played 50 games in a season yet. I would be okay with it, since I believe he can earn it, but I don’t think he should be asking more right now.

 

[Fatass]

Cam Neely just said Bruins have offered Swayman 64m (8x8). WOW!

So the Bruins are getting close to Swayman’s value. I wonder if 72 million gets it done or if the Bruins will need to get to 80?

 

[Mrfenn92]

8x8 should be a easy sign for swayman then

 

[JRull86]

Dont blame Swayman for holding off. He easily deserves over 9M

Also Neely just outright saying that to the media cant make Swayman and his agent happy

Oh yes because the agent wasn't the one who floated the "low ball" Bruins offer to Spitting Chiclets to make them look bad.

Please explain to me how Swayman deserves 9+ a year.

He's played 41, 37, 44 regular season games since being a full time player with Boston.

Boston is taking a risk with 8 mil to a guy that hasn't shown he can handle 55+ regular season starts as a true #1 in his career yet. Yes Ullmark obviously played a role in that as well, but it's a valid concern.

His direct comparison is Sorokin. They've been full-time guys for the same time frame. Sorokin has made 48 more starts in that period. Sorokin signed 8/66.

8/64 is more than fair for all involved.