On the list of things the Boston Bruins will need if they’re going to turn things around and exceed expectations this season, a bounce-back year from Jeremy Swayman may very well be at the top.
After three straight stellar seasons spent splitting the net with Linus Ullmark, Swayman’s first year as the full-time starter did not go as planned. His save percentage dropped 27 points from his previous career average down to .892. His goals against average ballooned by 0.77 goals per game to 3.11. While the team around him clearly was not good enough, advanced metrics like goals saved above expected make it clear that Swayman was not pulling his weight either (he finished at minus-9.1 for the season, which ranked 45th out of 53 goalies who played at least 25 games).
For Swayman, the 2024-25 season began to go south right about now. While he was able to participate in captains practices, he wound up missing all of training camp and the preseason as his contract negotiations dragged into October – and spilled over to a public war of words between Cam Neely and Swayman’s agent.
This year, there is no such drama or uncertainty looming over Swayman’s September. He has been on the ice for the start of captains practices this week at Warrior Ice Arena, and he won’t be going anywhere once training camp opens up on Sept. 17.
“So excited,” Swayman said on Thursday when asked about being able to participate in training camp this year.
Last year, Swayman believed that he could still get himself ready for the season despite missing camp by training and skating over at Boston University for much of September. Now, he can acknowledge that may have been a bit naïve.
“It’s an extremely important time of the year,” Swayman said. “…If I didn't have that experience, I probably wouldn't understand the importance of it. So, it's definitely allowed me to prepare a little bit differently come training camp time, and looking forward to it. And that's something that I really rallied behind, is being in this locker room, just alluding [sic] love to everyone, because I missed them at this time of year last year.”
Attending training camp isn’t the only thing that’s different for Swayman. In fact, by his own account, he’s “a completely different human being” all together compared to this time last year.
“I’m a completely different human being,” he said. “And that's a testament to the experience that I gained throughout my career to this point, and I'm so grateful for that, the ups and downs of it all. Standing here, Jeremy Swayman is in a great spot, and I'm really excited about that. To have that approach of creating a culture, creating my self culture to be elite, and hopefully it'll bleed into this room and have guys follow that way. So, that's something that I have to set a standard for myself, and I know that we have a great room that's going to do the same. So, it's going to be a contagious locker room for that, and we're really excited about that.”
Swayman said he changed up quite a bit in his offseason training and worked on “everything” as he aims to get his game to the level he expects to be at.
“Everything,” he said when asked what he worked on. “It's been a great summer for that alone, is just focusing on what I can improve on from my experience based on my career to this point, and I was on the ice a lot. That was something I was really looking forward to, is just getting back to the rhythm of things. Right when I got back from Worlds, it was pretty much a steady schedule on the ice and really working on my technique, my body, making sure I'm in a great position come right now to be at the top of my game and competing.”
As Swayman referenced, his 2024-25 season did not actually end when the Bruins’ disappointing year came to an end in April. In May, he played for the United States at the IIHF World Championships and helped lead the Americans to their first gold medal in the tournament since 1933. Swayman played arguably his best hockey of the year as the tournament went on, including a 24-save shutout in a 1-0 overtime win against Switzerland in the final.
That experience gave him something positive to build on heading into a critical offseason.
“It was [valuable],” Swayman said of the experience. “It's an honor playing for the USA every time I get the opportunity to. To finally do it, to win a gold medal, it's unbelievable. And that tournament for me, personally, was exactly what you said, a great cap to a year that I wanted better from. And to just let it all go and just play my game again, I found a lot. And again, it couldn't have been possible without the staff, the team that we had there, the boys, and obviously the support from the entire country. So, really excited to get that, and again, just wanted to ride that high throughout the summer and obviously into the season.”
Swayman will have an opportunity to don the red, white and blue again in February if he makes the U.S. Olympic team. Given his play at the World Championships and his status on the 4 Nations team this past February, Swayman would appear to have the edge over Seattle’s Joey Daccord for the third goalie spot behind Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Oettinger at the moment. Earning a trip to Milan, Italy is certainly a goal for Swayman this season, but he knows it’s only going to happen if he takes care of business with the Bruins first.
“It's definitely in all of our minds,” Swayman said of the Olympics. “It's an honor to be in that conversation, and I know that I have to be the best I can possibly be for the Boston Bruins in order to have my name on that Olympic roster. So, I'm going to do just that, and know that if I'm helping my team right here, right now, where my feet are, things will happen the right way. So, I'm excited for that, and again, all I'm focused on right now is Boston Bruins hockey.”