We no longer have to guess what the Bruins are offering to restricted free agent goalie Jeremy Swayman, who remains unsigned a week out from opening night. Team president Cam Neely came right out and told everyone Monday during Boston’s start-of-season press conferences.
“I don’t want to get into the weeds on what his ask is, but I know that I’d have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now,” Neely said.
In case you need help with the math, that would be an eight-year contract with an average annual value of $8 million.
Some reports had suggested that the Bruins had initially low-balled Swayman, with Ryan Whitney of Barstool’s Spittin’ Chiclets podcast saying he had heard that Boston’s offer was four years with a $6.2 million AAV.
Neely pushed back on the idea that general manager Don Sweeney ever “low-balled” Swayman.
“I think overall Don’s done a really good job of initial offers to players,” Neely said. “One of the things we talked about when he got the job was, being a former player, I’m not a big fan of low-ball, high-ball, figure it out somewhere in the middle. It’s like, OK, get the right comps, get the right comp group, put the right offer on the table. I think Don’s past has shown that he can get deals done. This is one that’s just been a little trickier. That’s all.”
Neely added that he still believes Swayman does want to be a Bruin long-term, and that he remains optimistic that a deal will eventually get done.
“I strongly believe that Jeremy wants to play here,” Neely said. “I’ve asked him flat-out, ‘Do you want to play here?’ And he does. I believe that we’ll get a deal done. It’s unfortunate that it’s not done today.”
Reports have indicated that Swayman and his agent, Lewis Gross, are looking for anywhere between $9 and $10 million per year.
When Sweeney was asked if he was surprised at any point by Swayman’s ask, Neely quickly interjected with, “I was surprised.”
Sweeney answered more diplomatically.
“No. As Charlie [Jacobs] mentioned, I would never begrudge a player for asking what he thinks his value is,” Sweeney said. “I’m a little surprised that you might take the position that the Bruins haven’t been aggressive or aren’t willing to go max term or some of those comments. At the end of the day, that is not how we’ve done business, and don’t intend to do business. There’s a marketplace for every positional player, and we’re firmly amongst that grouping. So no, no surprise. I never begrudge a player for doing it.”
Charlie Jacobs, the Bruins’ CEO and alternate governor, said he has been in constant communication with Neely and Sweeney about the situation, and that there are no financial constraints being put in place by ownership.
“Well, I can't speak for Jeremy. I can speak for ownership to say that we will spend to the cap, and we have spent to the cap virtually every year,” Jacobs said. “Management has informed me they need a little bit of wiggle room in case of an injury or two. As you know, with what NHL minimum salaries look like these days, that might be the delta of where we're at here. But as far as any personal one player is concerned, I try not to get caught in the weeds of that. I certainly don't begrudge somebody for a big paycheck. We're writing a big one ourselves to make sure that we have a winning club on the ice.”
Sweeney and head coach Jim Montgomery both acknowledged that even if Swayman signs Monday, it’s unlikely that he would be able to get up to speed in time to start on opening night next Tuesday. Montgomery said Joonas Korpisalo will almost certainly be the team’s Game 1 starter, and also noted that the more time Swayman misses, the longer it will take him to get up to speed.
“Well, I think that the longer you go without seeing NHL shots, and the longer you go without seeing that kind of tempo and pace in front of you, whether it's five-on-five scrimmages like we've been doing every practice or getting the game reps, the further back you get pushed,” Montgomery said. “And that's why I referenced that, say a deal gets done tomorrow, there's only a possibility of two practices before [opening night]. Korpisalo has done really well and we're confident in him, so that's why I referenced him starting game one.”