With each passing day we get closer to Oct. 8 when the Boston Bruins open the season against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise. Also with each passing day, we are getting closer and closer to Boston Bruins fans west case scenario becoming reality, no Jeremy Swayman in goal on Opening Night.
Swayman remains out of training camp without a new deal and after both sides did not file arbitration for a second straight season, we are looking at Boston’s once proud strongest position on the team now potentially the weakest. Not a great way to begin an 82-game NHL season. With each passing day, Bruins fans level of concern goes up and one NHL insider thinks it rising quickly.
On his recent episode of The Chris Johnston podcast, the NHL insider shared what he believed is the Bruins’ level of worry about Swayman not putting ink to paper yet. After trading Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators in late June, the Black and Gold are looking at the possibility of beginning the season with a Joonas Korpisalo/Brandon Bussi duo between the pipes.
“(Swayman) could sign later (Monday) and be at practice on Tuesday,” Johnston said. “There’s still time. But the longer it goes without any sense of movement, the closer it gets to that panic option. This is a pretty important player, after all. Every day that Swayman remains unsigned, the concern meter grows a little bit in Boston.”
Everyone knows how important of a player Swayman is for the Bruins, but it appears that both sides are not going to give in to a deal until the sides come to a mutual agreement that is a good deal for both sides. It’s part of the business. As are all the rumors that are floated out there daily.
Johnston is also right, Swayman could sign now and be out there tomorrow as he spent the summer in Boston training at Warrior Ice Arena, which is what makes the situation even more frustrating. It feels like the Bruins lost some negotiating leverage when they sent Ullmark to the Senators with no deal in place with Swayman.
Now both sides appear to be at an impasse and it doesn’t look like either is going to give in. With each passing day, it becomes a little more nerve-racking that Swayman will not be in the net against the Panthers in two weeks. It may become a reality unless something happens in the next 14 days.
The Boston Bruins went out and spent some serious money this summer. Signing defenseman Nikita Zadorov and center Elias Lindholm to multi-year deals cost the organization a whopping $84 million in total value. It also ate up a significant portion of their salary cap.
While the Bruins did leave themselves cap space to work with, the team finds themselves in a troubling situation. They still haven’t come to terms with their restricted free agent goaltender Jeremy Swayman. Despite PuckPedia showing the team having a bit over $8 million in cap space remaining, the two sides seem far off in contract talks.
With preseason games being played and no Swayman in sight, the pressure is mounting and the Bruins should be very, very concerned. If they don’t get Swayman under contract by the December 1st deadline, he will be ineligible to play and Boston’s season will go down the drains with it.
The Bruins made it clear that Swayman was their guy this summer. They traded Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators to clear the way for Swayman, and brought in veteran Joonas Korpisalo to spell him.
