Report: Bruins & RFA Jeremy Swayman Aren't Close To A New Deal

The Boston Bruins traded away Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators earlier this summer, handing the No. 1 goaltending spot to Jeremy Swayman. The only trouble is, Swayman is an unrestricted free agent, and to many people's surprise, there is no deal done yet.

Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Wednesday that a deal isn't imminent.

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 and we'll see how this sorts out.

Swayman just finished a one-year, $3.475 million contract, and did have arbitration rights as an RFA this summer, but chose not to use them. The process left a bitter taste in his mouth last offseason, and he didn't want to go through that again. The down side however, is that this stalemate over a new deal is dragging out.

Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs said this week, "We are still negotiating with Sway. I hope that he’s ready to play come training camp. We have some things to work out. I’m sure we’ll get there."

Swayman was a co-winner of the Jennings Trophy in 2023 as part of the tandem (with Ullmark) for the Bruins that allowed the fewest goals against for the season.

In 2023-24, he edged past Ullmark for the 1A role, starting 43 games to Ullmark's 39, while going 25-10-8 with a goals-against average of 2.53 and a save percentage of .916.

It's unknown what the most "challenging" part of the negotiations have been, but perhaps the recent eight-year, $7.74 million AAV extension for Juuse Saros with the Nashville Predators has something to do with it, as the sides might be bickering on Swayman's value using that as a comp.

The Bruins netminder could certainly be in line for an AAV north of $8 million. And as far as a potential offer sheet is concerned, that shouldn't be an issue for the B's or their fans to worry about. The compensation for an offer sheet in Swayman's pay range would cost a hefty two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a third-round pick.

As Friedman notes, there is still time, just over a month, for the two sides to reach some sort of agreement before training camp.