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

[VivaLasVegas]

Boston should consider Robin Lehner who now says he wants to come back and play. The snake farm is nice too.

 

[CannonFire1]

Swayman needs to pull his head outta his azz and realize that he's not there yet in terms of salary demands...Had he played 50 plus games per season these past few seasons - then sure - demand what ya want, but he hasn't and he's also had Ullmark as his 1B.

$7.8 X 8 is generous at this stage of his young career...Too bad he and his agent don't get it.

If the Bruins want to use lack of games / not shouldering a heavier load as reasons for offering a lower amount, then they should be pursuing a bridge deal instead of expecting Swayman to sign away all of his peak earning years at that lower amount. If he signs for 8 years he won't get another shot at a big payday.

 

[BronxBruin]

If the Bruins want to use lack of games / not shouldering a heavier load as reasons for offering a lower amount, then they should be pursuing a bridge deal instead of expecting Swayman to sign away all of his peak earning years at that lower amount. If he signs for 8 years he won't get another shot at a big payday.

They supposedly did. It was Swayman who insisted on 8 years.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

If the Bruins don’t want him can y’all please send him to Denver? As much fun as it is to try to win games 7-6, I kind of just want competent goaltending

 

[seanlinden]

If the Bruins want to use lack of games / not shouldering a heavier load as reasons for offering a lower amount, then they should be pursuing a bridge deal instead of expecting Swayman to sign away all of his peak earning years at that lower amount. If he signs for 8 years he won't get another shot at a big payday.

The B's probably are pursuing a bridge deal; or at least, something less than 8 years.

As a a team in a current contention window, it doesn't make a ton of sense to pay Swayman $8m-$9m to get him for 8 years; if you could pay him $5-6m and get him for 5.

But, that's asking Swayman to leave a potentially massive amount of money on the table, and with goalies being voodoo, potentially not a risk that it's advisable to take.

Ultimately, Swayman is probably regarded right now as the 1 goalie that should be signed to an 8 year deal given his age and experience. The problem is, Boston kinda isn't really in the right position to be handing out an 8-year deal and pay for potential.

There's a reason a lot of these large unproven contracts (Sanderson, Slafkovsky, Guenther, Faber, etc.) are being signed by teams that aren't great.

 

[nbwingsfan]

He's played a backup amount of games due to injuries, but each time he comes back from injury he plays himself into being the guy. This feels like when HF insisted Matthews wasn't a 70 point player because he had a 69 career high due to injuries but it was clear he was much better than the numbers.

This is trulybgrade A level homerism

 

[RogerRogerr]

Boston should consider Robin Lehner who now says he wants to come back and play. The snake farm is nice too.

What's Tim Thomas doing these days?

 

[Prettyisland]

It’s possible that where the player is in their career and where the team is in their win now mode just doesn’t match up. Which is fine and happens. Boston should have foreseen this and planed better. Especially if the spiciness of the arbitration process is true

 

[HockeyWooot]

I would have thought Sorokin (8.25 AAV) would be a better comparable than Hellebyuck? Sorokin also had three seasons playing as starter for a strong defensive club though in the 50-60 game range opposed to Swayman platooning 40 games with a recent Vezina winner.

I can understand why Boston would be wary of overpaying him, though has Benn handled poorly.

For Swayman it’s his prerogative to hold out for max payout, I don’t buy the comment about not wanting to adversely set the market for future goaltenders though. If you are holding out to get paid, own it.

There is a risk that this drags to the season and Korpisalo performs well in lieu.

If I were Swayman I’d take the 8x8 and run with it.

 

[Seras]

I've had many friends who have moved cities, provinces, states in order to make an extra 20k per year yet we're somehow surprised that these athletes don't want to take millions less than they feel they are worth because it's good for the team?

Get out of here with that stupidity, anyone can take less than they are worth but that doesn't give you the right to then judge someone who isn't as stupid as you are

 

[Fishy McScales]

I've had many friends who have moved cities, provinces, states in order to make an extra 20k per year yet we're somehow surprised that these athletes don't want to take millions less than they feel they are worth because it's good for the team?

Get out of here with that stupidity, anyone can take less than they are worth but that doesn't give you the right to then judge someone who isn't as stupid as you are

I always find this comparison a bit weird. 20k for your buddies probably makes a pretty big difference, but these star athletes are signing contracts that will easily set them for life even if they leave some on the table.

That said I'm team Swayman in this. Neely is an idiot.

 

[kanucks25]

I always find this comparison a bit weird. 20k for your buddies probably makes a pretty big difference, but these star athletes are signing contracts that will easily set them for life even if they leave some on the table.

That said I'm team Swayman in this. Neely is an idiot.

Yeah regardless of what side you're on, this is a terrible comparison.

Going from 50k to 70k is substantial in terms of the luxuries you can afford compared to 7M vs 9M or whatever.

 

[Leafshater67]

That’s my point though. Neely would love it if other teams would just do the work and they can just decide whether or not they wanna sign or take the compensation.

I don’t think there’s a team in the league who would go above 8x8 if he was a free agent other than a complete rebuilder though to be fair. He hasn’t earned a bigger deal than the league’s elites playing as a 1a/b.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Swayman isn't an $8M dollar goalie. He hasn't proven anything compared to Sorokin, Saros, Demko, Otter.

Don't forget Woll.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Don't forget Woll.

Woll is a tier above those bums mentioned.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

I really did not expect this to drag out so long.

 

[HockeyVirus]

This is trulybgrade A level homerism

Will be hilarious to see you try and talk your way out of this one after this season. Woll > Swayman

 

[FMichael]

If the Bruins want to use lack of games / not shouldering a heavier load as reasons for offering a lower amount, then they should be pursuing a bridge deal instead of expecting Swayman to sign away all of his peak earning years at that lower amount. If he signs for 8 years he won't get another shot at a big payday.

I don’t think you’ll find any GM out there willing to offer any more than what the Bruins had…So maybe he should take a bridge deal for less, play 50 plus games, take the responsibility of a #1 goalie, and see how things play out.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Just angrily f*** and move on to new partners already, christ. It's like watching one of my friends go through a messy breakup. You feel bad, but secretly giggle at how hilariously stupid both parties are.

 

[Hookslide]

Bussi hasn't seen a ton of rubber, but he's been pretty tight so far.

Bruins probably shouldn't be in a huge rush to sign Swayman.

Bussi has shown he can make the saves, his problem that needs to be worked on is rebounds.

 

[Peasy]

I always find this comparison a bit weird. 20k for your buddies probably makes a pretty big difference, but these star athletes are signing contracts that will easily set them for life even if they leave some on the table.

That said I'm team Swayman in this. Neely is an idiot.

Except the underlying issue is the same in both cases. The individual party does not believe they are being offered what they are worth from the company.

A star athlete is not your average joe. Trying to think what you would do in their situation is silly because if you were in that position your entire life leading up to that point would be completely different from where it is right now.

Maybe he wants to ensure his family is set up for multiple generations. An extra 10m would go a long way to accomplish this.

 

[cneely]

He's a restricted free agent. He does need to wait for a trade...

No he doesn't. He can sign with whoever he wants. If the Bruins match, then he could ask for a trade if he wants.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Except the underlying issue is the same in both cases. The individual party does not believe they are being offered what they are worth from the company.

A star athlete is not your average joe. Trying to think what you would do in their situation is silly because if you were in that position your entire life leading up to that point would be completely different from where it is right now.

Maybe he wants to ensure his family is set up for multiple generations. An extra 10m would go a long way to accomplish this.

Sure, he can keep asking for that and he can keep sitting out. Boston offered him a very fair deal. Sign it and join your teammates, nutjob.

 

[TGWL]

I would have thought Sorokin (8.25 AAV) would be a better comparable than Hellebyuck? Sorokin also had three seasons playing as starter for a strong defensive club though in the 50-60 game range opposed to Swayman platooning 40 games with a recent Vezina winner.

I can understand why Boston would be wary of overpaying him, though has Benn handled poorly.

For Swayman it’s his prerogative to hold out for max payout, I don’t buy the comment about not wanting to adversely set the market for future goaltenders though. If you are holding out to get paid, own it.

There is a risk that this drags to the season and Korpisalo performs well in lieu.

If I were Swayman I’d take the 8x8 and run with it.

The problem with using a comparable is that the cap is rising and looks to be going in a direction that will see big increases over the duration of Swayman's contract. The league doesn't allow a players cap to increase over the predicted future salary cap (which would get messy if that cap doesn't rise, clearly), so a player can't just sign a deal that will pay him a higher cap percentage starting in year 2 or 3. Signing a contract for what you feel you're worth right now and then seeing the salary cap go up 10+ million in the next 3 years probably pisses some players off.

The other argument is that it's risky and that's a lot of money to turn down for Swayman.

Sorokin signed during July, after it was announced that the 2023-2024 salary cap would be 83.5M. Months later it was reported we're going to see that big jump to 87.5/88M. Swayman is signing a contract at 88m salary cap, which is already predicted to rise to 92+m next season. I'd argue that if you were to split 9 million through-out your lineup, the starting goalie probably takes at least 500k of that. So it's easy to see why this situation is calling for a higher cap average from Swayman than what Sorokin took, whether he's worth that or not.

 

[wintersej]

The problem with using a comparable is that the cap is rising and looks to be going in a direction that will see big increases over the duration of Swayman's contract. The league doesn't allow a players cap to increase over the predicted future salary cap (which would get messy if that cap doesn't rise, clearly), so a player can't just sign a deal that will pay him a higher cap percentage starting in year 2 or 3. Signing a contract for what you feel you're worth right now and then seeing the salary cap go up 10+ million in the next 3 years probably pisses some players off.

The other argument is that it's risky and that's a lot of money to turn down for Swayman.

Sorokin signed during July, after it was announced that the 2023-2024 salary cap would be 83.5M. Months later it was reported we're going to see that big jump to 87.5/88M. Swayman is signing a contract at 88m salary cap, which is already predicted to rise to 92+m next season. I'd argue that if you were to split 9 million through-out your lineup, the starting goalie probably takes at least 500k of that. So it's easy to see why this situation is calling for a higher cap average from Swayman than what Sorokin took, whether he's worth that or not.

Everyone knew the cap was going to be going up when Sorokin signed the deal because the COVID payoff was coming. No one knew how much, but back of the napkin math wasn't far off.