Andrew Raycroft: A Jeremy Swayman trade is 'fairly unlikely'
The Jeremy Swayman negotiations exploded publicly Monday, with Bruins president Cam Neely saying that Swayman has "64 million reasons" to play, only to then have Swayman's agent, Lewis Gross, fire back and say the Bruins never offered a $64 million contract before Monday.
Gross's statement Monday night immediately led to speculation that Swayman could be so fed up that he now requests a trade. Whether that happens remains to be seen, and whether a trade would even be executed if Swayman does request one is a whole other story.
NESN analyst and frequent WEEI guest Andrew Raycroft, for one, does not see a trade being likely, despite what happened Monday. Listen to the full interview with Jones & Keefe above.
"The reality is, it's really hard to trade goaltenders right now," Raycroft said. "There's 90 goalies that think they can play in the NHL right now, or teams think they can play in the NHL right now, around the league. The reason you trade [Linus] Ullmark in the summer is because that's when teams want their goaltenders. That's when they want to get set up.
"Beyond that, right now, everyone kind of feels like they're set in goal right now, or certainly feel like they're set or can't afford a $10 million goalie right now. Because don't forget, you got to figure one of these teams that wants him has to work $10 million into it if you are trading him. So, my answer to the question is, it's really hard to trade goalies right now, especially ones that want to play 50 or 60 games, because most teams are set in that position right now. So, that's why I think a trade is still fairly unlikely, just because it's really hard to do when teams are trying to get under the cap at this time of year."
Bruins captain Brad Marchand also weighed in on the situation when asked by reporters on Tuesday, and sounded like someone who still expects Swayman and the team to ultimately hammer out a new contract.
"I wouldn't say it's hard to keep it out of the room," Marchand said. "Even today and after, there's not a whole lot of talk about it. We all understand the situation that the team and Sway are in. This is part of the game. It's part of the business. It's the part that nobody enjoys. Eventually, a deal is going to get done and everyone's gonna move on and be fine.
"One of the biggest things is the stress and pressure when these negotiations are going on, when you're dealing with a term deal, once it's signed, there's so much weight that gets lifted off, not just the player's shoulder but the team. Then it's just all about coming together and finding a way to win and building towards that goal.
"It's tough because we all care about Sway. We want to see him back. But again, it's part of the business that sometimes guys go through. Every player goes through it at some point. To the extent in which it gets dragged on is always different, but everybody goes through negotiations, and they're never fun. It'll be over, and everybody will move on."
As for when there might be some kind of resolution here, it's also worth noting that – at least according to one report – the two sides might not actually be as far apart as people think, or as they were initially, despite all of Monday's bluster.
Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reported on Tuesday that he believes the Bruins offered eight years at $7.8 million AAV ($62.4 million total), while Swayman's current ask is eight years at $8.5 million AAV ($68 million total). Now if you factor in that the Bruins have to go to $8 million AAV after Neely threw that number out, that is a lot closer than earlier reports that the Bruins were in the sixes while Swayman was in the nines, or even as high as $10 million.
If that report is true, then it shouldn't really be *that* difficult to bridge that final gap. That is, unless feelings have been hurt to the point that the personal now outweighs the business.
