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Cam Neely: There’s ‘64 million reasons why’ Jeremy Swayman should be playing for Bruins
"I believe that we’ll get a deal done. It’s unfortunate that it’s not done today.”
The contentious contract talks between the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman’s camp might have hit a critical boiling point.
With a little over a week before the start of the regular season on Oct. 8. Swayman is still without a contract.
Even if the 25-year-old goalie puts pen to paper on a new deal in the next few days, he might not have the necessary runway to be cleared for Game-1 reps against the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.
At this point, Swayman missing Game 1 of 82 might be the best-case scenario given the current state of these stagnant talks.
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Swayman can remain unsigned all the way through Dec. 1. If the restricted free agent doesn’t sign by then, he will be ineligible to play for the remainder of the season and the playoffs.
Throughout the offseason and into the fall, Don Sweeney and Boston’s front-office personnel have been tight-lipped when it comes to getting into specifics about term and payout on Swayman’s unfinished deal.
Keeping one’s cards close to the vest has been the standard operating procedure for Sweeney and the Bruins throughout his tenure as Boston’s general manager.
But Bruins president and Hall of Famer Cam Neely was far more candid during Monday’s season-opening press conference at TD Garden — suggesting that the team has made Swayman a $64 million offer.
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“I don’t want to get into the weeds with what his ask is,” Neely noted. “But I know that I have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now.”
With The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reporting last week that the “one constant” in Swayman’s contract demands is an eight-year deal, a $64 million payout would account for an $8 million annual payout.
If Swayman inked an eight-year, $64 million contract with Boston, he would become the fifth-highest-paid goalie in the NHL behind Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million AAV), Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million), Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million), and Ilya Sorokin ($8.25 million).
Neely acknowledged that he was “surprised” at Swayman’s initial ask this offseason, but also disagreed that the Bruins low-balled Swayman on their initial pitch.
“I think overall Don’s done a really good job of initial offers to players,” Neely said. “One of the things we talked about when he got the job was, being a former player, I’m not a big fan of low-ball, high-ball, figure it out somewhere in the middle.
“It’s like, OK, get the right comps, get the right comp group, put the right offer on the table. I think Don’s past has shown that he can get deals done. This is one that’s just been a little trickier.”
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Earlier this month, former NHL defenseman and “Spittin’ Chiclets” host Ryan Whitney said — while crediting a “reliable” source — that the Bruins offered Swayman a four-year contract worth $6.2 million per year.
While Sweeney strongly pushed back against Whitney’s claim that the Bruins didn’t contract or “return Swayman’s calls in three weeks,” it remains to be seen what exactly Swayman and his camp are asking for in terms of annual payout, especially if all parties are focused on an eight-year deal.
Sportsnet’s Elliott Friedman reported a few weeks ago that Swayman and his camp were asking for a contract similar to defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s — which equates to $9.5 million per year.
That would further vault Swayman into a tier with a pair of Vezina-winning, Cup-champion netminders in Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy.
Given Swayman’s previous comments about accounting for a growing cap ceiling and resetting the goalie free-agent market, both he and his agent, Lewis Gross, might be banking on his potential when it comes to his hefty new pay raise.
Neely outright acknowledged on Monday that he believes Swayman when it came to his desire to reset the goalie market with his new deal.
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But given Swayman’s limited reps at this stage of his career, one could also make the argument that an $8 million annual payout is already operating with plenty of belief on Boston’s end.
Even with Swayman’s impressive performance during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, he has only appeared in 132 career games.
As part of a dynamic tandem in net with Linus Ullmark over the past three years, 44 games played stands as Swayman’s heaviest workload of his career. His highest finish in Vezina Trophy voting was seventh overall this past year.
So far, Swayman has showcased little on the ice to dissuade from the notion that he can develop into a franchise goalie — especially now that Ullmark is the man between the pipes in Ottawa.
But given the volatility at the goaltender position and Swayman’s unproven track record as far handling a No. 1 workload, a $64 million deal does seemingly stand as a fair compromise — especially at this stage of the preseason.
“I strongly believe that Jeremy wants to play here,” Neely said. “I’ve asked him flat-out, ‘Do you want to play here?’ And he does. I believe that we’ll get a deal done. It’s unfortunate that it’s not done today.”
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