While some Bruins fans continue to worry about Jeremy Swayman’s lingering contract situation, Swayman himself is talking and acting like someone who has no doubt in his mind that he will be remaining in Boston for years to come.
Swayman, who is a restricted free agent, has been in Boston most of the summer and has been skating and working out at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton with teammates and Bruins staff. He was spotted at development camp in July and appeared in team promos for their season schedule release.
The latest evidence that Swayman is not fretting came Wednesday at Fenway Park when the 25-year-old goalie appeared on NESN as part of the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon. Host Adam Pellerin asked Swayman how confident he was that an extension would get done.
“There's a lot of confidence,” Swayman said. “And I say that because I've treated it like business as usual this year. I've been at Warrior, I've been working out with our guys, our staff, our players. And I know that there's something special building in this locker room this year, and I can't be more excited about that.
“I know that it will take care of itself with time, and all I can do is control how I'm going to be a better goalie for the Boston Bruins this year. So, that's all I'm focused on. And I know, again, it will work out, and I couldn't be happier to be a Bruin.”
Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs also expressed confidence that a deal will get done when he appeared on WEEI’s Gresh & Fauria on Tuesday, saying that the two sides are still negotiating and that, “There’s some things to work out, and I’m sure we’ll get there.”
At least some level of concern this week was understandable. Elliotte Friedman said on his 32 Thoughts podcast this week that, “The last I heard, they weren’t close. I think this has been a bit of a challenging negotiation, but they’ve still got time.” But Friedman also acknowledged that he hasn’t been “bugging people” about Swayman too much recently.
On top of that, the St. Louis Blues made rare use of the offer sheet this week, targeting not one, but two of the Edmonton Oilers’ restricted free agents – defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway.
That could be seen as a bit of a wakeup call for teams like the Bruins who still have unfinished business with a restricted free agent, but it’s worth noting that the Blues only had to put a second-round pick on the table for Broberg and a third-round pick for Holloway.
If any team was going to actually tempt the Bruins to not match an offer sheet, they would likely have to offer more than $9 million per year and cough up two first-round picks, a second-round pick and a third-round pick as compensation. Only seven teams even meet all the criteria to make such an offer: the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.
So, while even smaller offer sheets like those for Broberg and Holloway are rare enough, a massive one on the level that it would take to pry away Swayman would be historically rare. It remains highly unlikely despite the jolt to the system that the Blues provided this week.
Bruins training camp begins Sept. 18. My take for a while now has been that it would not be surprising if it takes until a week or two before then for Swayman and the Bruins to finally get to the finish line, something Andrew Raycroft echoed on The Skate Podcast last week.