Jim Montgomery not getting into Jeremy Swayman's contract situation
A few weeks ago, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he had "no doubt" Jeremy Swayman would be a Bruin at the start of training camp when he was asked about the goalie's contract situation at a Bruins Fan Fest event in Lewiston, Maine.
"Him and I had a great conversation about leading, becoming a leader as part of the Bruins," Montgomery said then. "I don't have anything to do with the contract situation. That's not part of my job detail. My job is my connection with the players, and how we're going to be good this year. And I have no doubt Jeremy Swayman will be a Bruin at the start of camp, and we'll be ready to go."
Well, the start of training camp is now less than a week away, and Swayman still isn't signed. And when Montgomery was asked again about the situation at Thursday's Boston Bruins Foundation Golf Tournament at Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth, his answer was much more guarded than it was on Aug. 23.
"I'm not going to get into the contract situation. It's not my area of expertise. It's Don's," Montgomery said, referring to general manager Don Sweeney.
Montgomery was also asked if Swayman potentially missing the start of camp would change the way he approaches camp.
"No, I don't think it does," he said. "Because we lean towards, the way we play out in camp, our veterans tend to play most of the last three games."
That second answer still seems to imply that Montgomery at least expects Swayman to sign at some point during training camp, even if it's not done by Day 1 on Wednesday. The Bruins' first preseason game is Sept. 22, with six more to follow, stretching through Oct. 5. They open the regular season on Oct. 8 in Florida against the Panthers.
Ideally, the Bruins would probably want Swayman to play at least two preseason games before opening night.
Bruins captain Brad Marchand also addressed Swayman's situation Thursday.
"Obviously, it's a big topic of conversation with fans and the media," Marchand said. "This is part of the business. We all are really looking forward to when it does get done and the process is over and he's back with the group, but that's obviously out of our hands and we don't get involved in any of that. So, it'll be great when everything gets kind of squared away."
Starting camp with Swayman still unsigned would not be unprecedented when it comes to the Bruins and young restricted free agents. In 2017, David Pastrnak finalized a new contract on the first day of camp. In 2019, Charlie McAvoy signed three days into camp, and Brandon Carlo signed three days after that.
Still, fans will understandably remain anxious until a deal actually gets done, especially with reports suggesting that the two sides could be $3-4 million apart in terms of average annual value. There was at least some reason for optimism with this week when TSN's Darren Dreger said that he believes "negotiations are probably closer than we're reading about."
