Swayman Camp Fires Back At Bruins, Calling Neely A Liar

This is getting ugly.

After weeks (months?) of keeping the Jeremy Swayman contract discussions private, the two parties have come out swinging on Monday. First, Boston Bruins president Cam Neely intimated he had presented a $64 million offer to his RFA goaltender.

Now the Swayman camp has fired back, as agent Lewis Gross outright denies that a $64 million offer was ever made. He says he is "extremely disappointed" by Neely's comments.

Just hours apart, Cam Neely says the Bruins offered Jeremy Swayman $64 million, and Swayman’s agent said such an offer had never been made.

The Bruins first game of the season is 8 days away. pic.twitter.com/PzWCxwpSHq
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 30, 2024

From Gross, Swayman's rep:

Normally, I do not release statements or discuss negotiations through the media.
However, in this case, I feel I need to defend my client. At today's press conference, $64 million was referenced.
This was the first time that number was discussed in our negotiations. Prior to the press conference, no offer was made reaching that level.
We are extremely disappointed. This was not fair to Jeremy. We will take a few days to discuss where we go from here.

Yikes.

The season is just nine days away, and the Bruins and their No. 1 goaltender are in a public scrap through the media. And their former co-No. 1 goaltender (Linus Ullmark) is plying his trade in Ottawa.

Rumors had leaked over the summer suggesting that Swayman wants north of $8 million per season on an extension, but having just three seasons of sharing the netminding load doesn't seem to be enough for the Bruins to want to go that high.

What comes next is anybody's guess, but this is certainly not trending in the right direction.

Joonas Korpisalo, who struggled last season with the Senators, is now set to be the opening night goaltender for the Bruins, and Swayman's return is nowhere in sight.

As his agent said, they'll "take a few days to discuss where we go from here."