Jeremy Swayman does not have a contract with the Boston Bruins, and no one knows for certain if or when he will.
But one thing that seems certain is that even though the goaltender has already missed a significant portion of training camp, he is still expected to be among the best at his position this season.
Along with Winnipeg’s Connor Helleybuck and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers, Swayman is tied for the best NHL betting odds to take home the Vezina trophy in 2024-25.
In a way, it’s counterintuitive that Swayman’s odds haven’t fluctuated since the lines first opened at the beginning of the summer. But at the same time, it shows how highly he’s viewed following his performance last season.
After making a career-high 44 starts with a 2.53 goals-against average and a.916 save percentage during the regular season, Swayman took command of the crease for the Bruins in the playoffs. His numbers only got better from there. So much so that his stats remained at the top of the postseason leaderboard even after Boston was eliminated in the second round.
The Bruins then made the bold choice to make Swayman their official starter by trading former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark away to the Ottawa Senators. Boston decided to trade Ullmark with the belief in mind that it’d be able to sign Swayman to a new contract. That hasn’t happened thus far, as he remains a restricted free agent.
“I’m disappointed,” said Bruins general manager Don Sweeney when the team reported for training camp on Sep. 18. “When you set things as a priority, from the general manager spot, you do your best to try and accomplish that. I haven’t been able to do that yet.”
It’s been reported that both the Bruins and Swayman are interested in a long-term deal. However, it’s believed that there are philosophical differences that are standing in the way of them coming to an agreement. Swayman has showcased the talent of a starting-caliber goaltender, but he hasn’t played the role on a full-time basis.
As previously mentioned, Swayman’s career-high in starts is only 44 games, while most top goalies usually start 55 games or more per season.
Now that there are less than two weeks to go until the start of the regular season, there are concerns over whether or not Swayman will be ready for that heavy of a workload.
“Every day that Jeremy is out, it hurts our team, and it hurts him,” Sweeney said. “There is preparation that we would like to do that he needs to do, but it’s not going to stop the goal of finding common ground and getting something done.”
With Swayman out for the time being, the Bruins have forged ahead with Joonas Korpisalo as their projected starter. Swayman and the Bruins have until Dec. 1 to agree on a deal, or else he will be ineligible to play this season.
Sweeney seems comfortable waiting things out until then, but some are already whispering that he should consider trading Swayman.
That doesn’t appear to be an option at the moment, but it eventually could be if the two sides aren’t any closer to agreement as that Dec. 1 deadline approaches.
Whether or not Swayman will play for the Bruins this season, or any other team for that matter, is still uncertain.
What is, though, is that he’s expected to be among the best at his position this season if he does.
