At this point, I’ve resigned myself to the idea that franchise netminder and restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman is not going to be with the Bruins for the start of training camp.
And barring something special between now and 12 p.m. Wednesday when general manager Don Sweeney and head coach Jim Montgomery are set to hit the video room for their first press conferences of the new season, that will remain the case.
But, I gotta say, Tuesday seemed to come with legitimate hope that the endgame was here. While I try not to be someone who dabbles in the ‘insider’ game (if you call me an insider in real life, I am legally required to run through the nearest window as I made sure was stated in my 98.5 The Sports Hub contract), I will note that I received three texts, DMs, and even a call (in 2024! a call!) in rapid succession that a deal between the Bruins and Swayman was finally close. At “the finish line,” one person even said.
It was enough to get me to think that an announcement was indeed around the corner. That was quickly shot down by those closer to the situation, with ‘status quo’ being the word.
But this is the Bruins we’re talking about, meaning that nothing is truly off limits.
If there’s one thing I’ve come to learn about the Bruins through my years of covering them, and covering them through the Sweeney administration, it’s that they do not like being “scooped.” When I caught word that Patrice Bergeron had an announcement scheduled for the morning, they outright and vehemently denied that it was a retirement announcement. Spoiler: It was. At the end of the day, they don’t want outsiders breaking news like that (I definitely get it), and ultimately there are just certain things and details they simply don’t want broken before they are officially, formally, and finally done.
This entire negotiation, for what it’s worth, has felt like that.
When the Bruins (and Swayman) opted to let an arbitration window pass ’em by, it was with the understanding that the sides would operate in good faith after an ugly arbitration exchange in 2023. Sweeney has spent the entire summer being intentionally vague when talking about Swayman’s status, and Swayman has more often than not opted to “let my agent handle that.” The only true ‘ugly’ point in these talks seemed to come after Swayman made a podcast appearance where he talked about the business aspect of this. It was no coincidence that the appearance was surrounded by reports that were designed to make the other look insane (Swayman never asked for $10 million per year, according to people I’ve talked with) or insulting (like the $6 million per year offered unveiled by Spittin’ Chiclets).
In essence, it’s entirely possible that real progress has been made, but that everyone has been instructed to stop leaking, even if it’s the right kind of leaking to those in The Hub.
Jan 11, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) warms up before a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. (Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports)
Now, do I believe that the sides are closer than the internet would lead you to believe? Yes, I do. 100 percent. It’s not in the Bruins’ best interest to truly dig in on this when they’ve already traded Linus Ullmark (and to a team within their division) and when their current alternatives are Joonas Korpisalo coming off a downright dreadful year in Ottawa and Brandon Bussi (zero NHL minutes).
So, what’s the hold up?
Something that’s honestly easy to lose sight of because he’s still so young is that Swayman is just two years away from hitting unrestricted free agency. So while it’s easy for everyone to sit here and say that a bridge deal is what’s best for both sides while Swayman ‘proves himself’ some more, it makes absolutely no sense for the Bruins to run the risk of Swayman being the guy and then leaving for absolutely nothing as a UFA in 2026. It would be the absolute worst asset management in the history of the Sweeney regime, which is sayin’ something.
So, if the Bruins are going longer term, that means they’re buying up some of Swayman’s UFA years, which typically comes with a premium payday in terms of the average annual value. And if the ‘eight times eight’ that people like myself have talked about for months now was as easy as people like myself have made it sound all summer long, it most likely would’ve been done by now. So, if it’s not, what’s the next-best step? Early on in the talks, I had heard that the Bruins were going with four years as the baseline for their offers. If that’s changed and they’ve gone longer, you have to wonder what concessions are being made elsewhere by either side.
At the end of the day, something’s gotta give when it comes to these talks and Swayman’s next deal. But, at the risk of actually being Swayman’s agent here, the questions one may have about committing to Swayman seem a bit misguided in my opinion.
When it comes to giving Swayman a big-money deal, the first ‘con’ seems to be that Swayman has never been the true No. 1 goaltender on his team. That’s just not true. Sure, Swayman had the benefit of a strong creasemate with Linus Ullmark, but the Bruins did ride Swayman like a No. 1 at various points in 2023-24, and most notably in the 2024 playoffs, where he did everything he could to will an undergunned B’s squad to victory.
I would also disagree with the idea of a ‘workhorse’ goaltender in 2024. It’s a dying concept as sports science continues to invade the National Hockey League. Going back to last year, just five goaltenders started over 55 games. That list featured the Oilers’ Stuart Skinner, Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck, the Avalanche’s Alexandar Georgiev, and Nashville’s Juuse Saros.
Here’s a look at how those goalies fared after their 55th start (including playoffs):
- Bobrovsky: 18-8-1 record, .910 save percentage, 2.24 goals against average.
- Georgiev: 7-8-2 record, .880 save percentage, 3.48 goals against average.
- Hellebuyck: 6-4-0 record, .902 save percentage, 3.44 goals against average.
- Saros: 6-7-1 record, .892 save percentage, 3.01 goals against average.
- Skinner: 15-10-0 record, .896 save percentage, 2.56 goals against average.
It’s also worth noting that two of those goalies were knocked out in the first round (Hellebuyck and Saros), and that they honestly looked gassed by the grind they were put through down the stretch. And the Bruins, for better or worse, are closer to those teams from a team construct standpoint than they are Florida or Edmonton.
And that brings us to the other point. I know some people are in the Felger camp where the Bruins should simply trade Swayman for the haul and try to build the best team. T-E-A-M. It’s a sound idea, sure … if you ignore the path the Bruins are already on. Look at how Colorado built their winner. Sure, they won with ‘just a guy’ but they also had a core built of lottery picks. Vegas won with a guy only after swindling the rest of the league on the trade market using an insane war chest of trade assets built through a flawless expansion draft.
The Bruins are not positioned to be that team, and this past summer only further emphasized that, with the Bruins focused on shoring up their two-way presence with the additions of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. It’s simply too late for the Bruins to reverse course on that. They are by design built to win games from the net out, and it turns out that the net is a key component of that construct.
This is the (S)way they’ve been built. Now comes completing that construction.
All eyes on Matt Poitras
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 30: Matthew Poitras #51 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the second period against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on October 30, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
A year ago, the Bruins needed Matt Poitras. There’s no doubt that Poitras earned his spot on the B’s, of course, but calling a spade a spade here, the Bruins had a glaring need at center following the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, which made the decision to keep him in Boston after training camp a lot easier.
Now, with all things being equal here, and with Elias Lindholm added to the fold and with multiple players capable of playing center and coming off career years, do you feel the same about Poitras this training camp? The answer is probably not, no. This is not a knock on Poitras in the slighest, but rather thinking big picture with a player that figures to be among the most important B’s of the future.
When the Bruins hit the ice for the first day of on-ice work Thursday morning, it will have been almost seven and a half months to the day that Poitras underwent surgery to stabilize his right shoulder. That is a looooong time. And you have to wonder if the Bruins will put some extra caution tape on Poitras out of the gate. So much so that Poitras actually begins his 2024-25 campaign in the AHL, in fact.
I know, I know. That’s crazy. But follow me here for a minute.
The Bruins love having options. Especially when it presents them with a path of least resistance. Look at how they handled both Mason Lohrei and Johnny Beecher at various points last season. And look at what they’re potentially looking at with ‘use ’em or lose ’em’ talents like Georgii Merkulov and Fabian Lysell. And let’s look at how Poitras’ year went in 2023-24. For as good of a story as he was (and damn right he was), Poitras had to absolutely battle through some things that were at times overwhelming in a crash-course intro to the NHL.
After beginning his pro career with seven points in his first 11 games, Poitras recorded just eight points over his final 22 games, and had one goal in his final 21 appearances before going under the knife. One of the more noticeable things over that aforementioned 22-game run was the absolute pounding that Poitras took during the season as an undersized teenager playing against men. “He’s gutting it out, but he’s beat up,” one source texted 98.5 The Sports Hub during the 2023-24 season and during a particularly quiet run from a points perspective.
And, again, this comes back to a simple question: Do the Bruins need Poitras like they did a year ago? The answer, if we’re playing the long game here, is probably no. That does not mean that Poitras should be a lock for Providence, but don’t be surprised if the Bruins are thinking more big picture than immediate results with him. Especially now that they have the beloved ‘reassigned’ at their disposal with the 2022 second-round pick.
Can Bob & the Bruins fix Korpisalo?
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA – APRIL 02: Joonas Korpisalo #70 of the Ottawa Senators looks on against the Minnesota Wild in the second period at Xcel Energy Center on April 02, 2024 in St Paul, Minnesota. (David Berding/Getty Images)
If there’s one thing I truly hated about the B’s offseason, it was the decision to add Joonas Korpisalo to the mix for the next four years. This is not because I view Korpisalo as a lost cause. In fact, it would not shock me in the slightest if the Bruins turn Korpisalo into a solid contributor in a backup role. Bruins goalie coach Bob Essensa’s track record on this front sort of speaks for itself in that regard.
It was more that the Bruins had priced themselves out of the luxury of a backup making this kind of money, and that if this were a free-agent signing, you’d view the Bruins as absolute lunatics for signing a guy coming off that kind of year to a four-year, $12 million contract (I remember how everyone felt about the John Moore signing, and this was essentially the trade version of that kind of move). And I still hate it in that regard as the Bruins hem and haw over what they’re going to pay Swayman on his next contract and as I’m repeatedly told (and do believe, for what it’s worth) that ‘Goalie Bob’ can make any goalie look good. If that second point is the case, you shouldn’t need to invest that much money in the backup spot if the ask is just 20 above-solid starts, but that’s a topic for another day and another universe.
But how the Bruins go about ‘fixing’ Korpisalo will be one of the premier storylines to follow in camp.
Factoring in that AHL standout Brandon Bussi requires waivers to be sent down to Providence, the Bruins need to be mindful of giving each goalie a fair shot at making this roster. Korpisalo is also coming off what was a disastrous 2023-24 campaign in Ottawa, which begs the question of just how long of a leash the Bruins are going to give him this preseason (and beyond). If it’s more of the same Korpisalo that constantly deflated Ottawa, do the Bruins have the guts to have a potential $3 million albatross assigned down to the minors? It would not be the first time, but I can’t remember them doing it with a player with this much term left on their deal.
Again, I like the Bruins’ odds of fixing Korpisalo, but the question that’ll linger is at what cost is it their focus?
Getting the left ‘right’ on D
Feb 1, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. (John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports)
If there’s one thing about Sweeney’s summertime availability that stuck out to me, it’s that he believes that the Bruins will need to make up for some their losses on the goal scoring front (Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, and James van Riemsdyk are all out of the picture) by putting their defensemen in more offense-friendly spots.
On that front, it’s hard not to think of Boston’s left side, where Hampus Lindholm and Mason Lohrei reside as the Bruins’ top non-McAvoy offensive threats from the backend. And from a position that should allow them to be more offensively minded with Nikita Zadorov added to Boston’s left-side dynamic.
All year long, it felt like Lindholm was being miscast, though I’m not sure that the Bruins had another option. Spending the majority of his campaign opposite Brandon Carlo on Boston’s second pairing, Lindholm finished the regular season with 489 defensive-zone faceoffs at five-on-five play (second-most among B’s defensemen). And among a group of 62 NHL defensemen with at least 1,300 minutes of five-on-five ice time, Lindholm’s offensive-zone start percentage of 33.93 percent was tied for the fourth-worst. The Bruins acknowledged that they were asking a lot out of Lindholm and in a much different role, but it appeared to be too much at times.
And perhaps it was no surprise that Lindholm’s best games during the 2023-24 season seemed to come on nights where he was touching the puck and allowed to make more plays in the offensive zone.
Lohrei, meanwhile, had a true coming out party during the 2024 postseason as Boston’s undeniably most confidence defenseman when it came to having the puck on his stick and leading the breakout. Lohrei was simply making plays that a first-year pro shouldn’t have been making. And I mean that in the best way possible.
The Bruins are going to ask more out of these guys offensively at five-on-five play, but what about on the power play? I have been of the belief that Boston’s top power-play unit has traditionally worked better with a left shot quarterbacking the unit and feeding David Pastrnak for one-time bombs, and the numbers have seemingly confirmed it, with Boston’s power play running with a touch more effectiveness with a lefty like Lindholm running the point instead of McAvoy. I do think that the Bruins are going to give McAvoy first crack at leading their revamped top unit (they love the idea of having more of a true ‘bumper’ threat with Elias Lindholm), but if it continues to stumble like it did a year ago, do they make the switch and to which lefty?
What is Montgomery’s future?
May 4, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins coach Jim Montgomery speaks to the media after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
If David Pastrnak’s Game 7 overtime shot on Ilya Samsonov goes just wide and the Maple Leafs score on the counterattack, there’s a strong possibility that Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery is not here and getting ready for his third year behind the B’s bench. It would’ve been Montgomery’s second straight season behind the bench for a 3-1 series lead collapse (something that had not been done in any North American sport, not just the NHL), and even if you like and believe in him, it’s just really hard to imagine any coach surviving that.
Pastrnak delivered (and after a call out from Montgomery), though, and Montgomery is indeed still here.
But in terms of long-term security, well, that’s a different story entirely.
While Montgomery is getting set for another year behind the bench, it’s worth noting that this is believed to be the final year of his current contract. And as of right now, the Bruins and Montgomery have yet to hammer out an extension to officially extend his Boston stay beyond the 2024-25 season. This is… a little unusual.
When Sweeney and the Bruins extended Bruce Cassidy in 2019, it was announced before the start of training camp. Both Cassidy and Bruins management acknowledged how important it was to avoid Cassidy entering what was the final year of his current contract with that uncertainty hanging over his head. That was, of course, Sweeney’s only prior experience dealing with a potential ‘lame duck’ head coach, as he inherited a Bruins squad that had already extended Claude Julien a month into the 2014-15 season (and in what was Julien’s final year under contract with the club), some six months before Sweeney took over for Peter Chiarelli.
The other wrinkle to this is that the Bruins recently promoted Joe Sacco to associate coach, and added ex-Providence coach Jay Leach back to the organization as an assistant on the NHL staff this past summer. Both Leach and Sacco were considered strong contenders for the B’s head coaching gig before they ultimately went with Montgomery, and if this is anything like Cassidy being promoted to Julien’s staff in 2016, the extra help for Montgomery is help, but it’s also a bit like having two grim reapers on your staff.
On the surface, extending Montgomery is a no brainer for the Bruins. He’s been ridiculously successful in the regular season, and certainly squeezed the most out of his roster last season. But the fact that this deal hasn’t been completed yet is enough to get one’s antennae up until an extension comes down and puts everyone at ease.
And should Montgomery go into the year without an extension, more questions will follow. Such as whether or not the Bruins going to focus on the postseason performance of the club next spring now that they’ve restocked the overall depth of Montgomery’s roster with some guys they view as key contributors? Are they waiting to see how the Bruins open the season and if they can correct last year’s worrisome habit of slow starts?
Montgomery has always been a ‘one day at a time’ kind of coach, and I do think that demeanor has kept the Bruins in a good frame of mind even when it seems like everything is going to hell. But can and will that remain the case if his future is a complete unknown and when the Bruins are hoping for some young guys to emerge?
