The Boston Bruins and restricted free agent goaltender Jeremy Swayman are set for an arbitration hearing July 30 unless both sides agree on a new contract before that point.
And now we know what both sides filed for.
According to a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Boston Bruins have filed at $2 million, while Swayman and his camp have come in at $4.8 million.
Swayman, 24, has some leverage as the contract negotiations continue between Boston and the young goaltender. Drafted 111th overall by the Bruins in 2017, Swayman put forth his best statistical season in 2022-23. While suiting up in 37 games for the Bruins this past season, the netminder posted a 24-6-4 record with a 2.27 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.
The .920 save percentage tied for fourth best in the NHL last season with only Ilya Sorokin, Filip Gustavsson and his teammate Linus Ullmark ahead of him. Such a performance is certainly one Swayman’s camp will use to its advantage as the contract negotiations continue proceed.
The one caveat, however, is that the Bruins already have Ullmark locked up for the next two seasons at a $5M cap hit. Nonetheless, Swayman’s performance during the 2022-23 regular season is one that should earn him a significant raise from his prior deal, which was listed at $1.05 million AAV.
One comparable that may be used between both the Bruins and Swayman’s camp to settle on a deal is that of Ilya Samsonov. The Toronto Maple Leafs netminder was awarded a one-year, $3.55 million dollar contract. Considering Samsonov had a similar save percentage (.919) and goals against average (2.33) than Swayman in 42 games played, it's not out of the question that Samsonov’s contract gets used as a parallel during the contract discussions.
With the Bruins already locked into Linus Ullmark for the next two years at $5 million, we should expect that Boston will be looking to minimize Swayman’s cap hit on his latest contract if possible.
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