Jeremy Swayman wasn't a fan of arbitration process
No one wants to go to arbitration. The whole process of a team having to argue why one of its young players isn’t worth the money he thinks he is, and that young player having to hear said argument, can get uncomfortable for everyone.
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman tried to not take any of it personally, but he also knows now that he never wants to go through it again.
“There's no ill will on the process because I understand that I'm not the first player to go through it, and I'm not the last,” Swayman said Tuesday at Warrior Ice Arena. “But I definitely don't wish it upon any of my friends and teammates moving forward, and I don't want to do it ever again as well. So, I’m grateful I went through it, glad we got it done, and I’m a Boston Bruin at the end of the day.”
Swayman was a restricted free agent this summer, meaning that barring an offer sheet from another team that could have given him some leverage and forced the Bruins’ hand, arbitration was one of the few tools he had to really make a case for himself.
Swayman and his team filed for a one-year deal worth $4.8 million, while the Bruins countered at $2 million for one year. While the Bruins managed to avoid arbitration with fellow restricted free agent Trent Frederic by agreeing to a last-minute deal, they could not find common ground with Swayman, sending it to a hearing in front of a neutral arbitrator on July 30. As is often the case, the arbitrator ultimately settled on an award pretty much smack in the middle of the two sides, resulting in a one-year deal worth $3.475 million.
While he certainly didn’t enjoy the process, Swayman did say that he learned a lot from it and is grateful for everyone who helped him argue his case.
“It wasn't a process I wanted to go through, but I understand that it's a business,” he said. “In the end, I'm grateful I went through it because I have so many things to be grateful for. Main thing is my agents – Lewis Gross, Mark Toof and Jamie Bozzo – what they did for me and seeing how much they cared about me as a player and the endless work they put in to get the best result out of the situation I was put in was something that I'll be grateful for for a long time.
“As well as the NHLPA, what they did for me and the incredible lawyers … that I've made incredible relationships with now. The law students, too, who put in countless hours on my basically presentation. Again, the relationships that I've made through this process will be something that I'll cherish for a really long time.”
Swayman has stayed in the Boston area this summer rather than go home to Alaska like previous summers so that he can work more closely with the Bruins’ training staff on his offseason program. He said he has still gotten his fix of the great outdoors by making weekend trips up to Maine and New Hampshire, including a planned trip this week to hike Mount Washington with teammate A.J. Greer.
He said it’s been “sad” to see so much roster turnover for the Bruins this summer, led of course by the retirement of Patrice Bergeron, but that he’s also excited about the opportunity ahead.
“It's definitely sad seeing the change in turnover, but at the same time, what an opportunity to meet so many new players coming in,” Swayman said. “And you know, you hear such great things about these guys coming in. I know that our management isn’t going to bring in guys that are going to bring us down, so I know that again we're gonna have the tools we need to succeed, and I can't wait for that.”
One area that there hasn’t been any turnover is in net. Despite rumors and speculation that one of Swayman or Linus Ullmark could be moved this summer, both remain Bruins and the expectation at this point is that Boston will run back the tandem that had a historically great regular season.
“There’s nothing separating that guy and I,” Swayman said of his relationship with Ullmark.
Asked how he balances that friendship with his own desire to be a No. 1 goalie or play more minutes, Swayman said it’s exactly that kind of internal drive in both of them that makes the duo successful.
“That's what makes it so special, is that if we didn't have that, we’d be pissed at each other,” he said. “Because that wouldn't elevate our game. That's something that we really take seriously, is that if I'm not competing as hard or he's not competing as hard in practice, we know that if we slump in games, the other guy's going to take that net. And that's what's going to elevate our level every single game.
“So that's something that could get overlooked at times from a viewer standpoint, but on the ice him and I know that if we're not elevating our game every single day, that one or the other guy is going to take over the net, and we're not gonna get each other better, we're not gonna help this team to get better. So that kind of mentality that we've had has taken care of itself, because we know that if we compete with each other at the highest level, we're gonna give our team a chance to win any given night.”