By: Joe Travia | Follow Me on Twitter @NHLJoeTravia
Being a fan of the Boston Bruins is pretty great right now. Despite not having star players Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand in the lineup due to injury, the Bruins have gotten out to a 5-1-0 start, the best such mark in the NHL. They lead the league in goals for and are fifth in goal differential. It has been a very fun start to the Jim Montgomery era. One player who has had a noticeably slow start, however, is young goaltender Jeremy Swayman.
Expectations for Swayman were sky-high coming into the season, and rightfully so. As a rookie during the 2021-2022 season, Swayman compiled a 23-14-3 record, with a 2.41 goals against average and a .914 save percentage. Though he faded a bit down the stretch and ceded the cage to Linus Ullmark for the start of the Bruins’ first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, Swayman ended up starting games three through seven and played well. Going into training camp, you would have had a hard time finding any Bruins fan who did not consider Swayman the 1A to Ullmark’s 1B.
Unfortunately, things have not gone according to plan for Swayman thus far. Though Swayman wasn’t bad during training camp preseason, Ullmark outplayed him and earned the opening night start against the Capitals. Swayman made his season debut in the next game against the Arizona Coyotes, and though he earned the victory, Swayman wasn’t exactly stellar, letting in three goals on just 24 shots against one of the league’s worst teams. His next start against the Ottawa Senators was anything but a bounce-back performance. Swayman let up six goals on 25 shots and was pulled after the second period. He never looked comfortable in net, and you could have made the case for pulling him long before Montgomery did.
Swayman’s slow start, combined with Ullmark’s excellent play, has led to a myriad of overreactions. Scan Twitter or listen to sports radio and you will hear people calling for Swayman to be relegated to permanent backup status or thrown into some crazy trade proposal. To be fair, it is no question which goaltender is playing better at the moment. As my colleague Gayle Troiani noted, Ullmark has been outstanding. It is important to note, though, that last season’s 39 starts were the most Ullmark has ever made in a single season. While he is playing extremely well, Ullmark is not a goalie in the mold of an Igor Shesterkin or Andrei Vasilevskiy that you can count on for 50-60+ starts a year.
And that is where Swayman comes in. It was clear that when the Bruins signed Ullmark to a four-year contract prior to last season that they envisioned him splitting duties while Swayman continued his ascent into the upper tier of goalies. If the Bruins want to reach their ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup, they are going to need to be able to rely on both goalies. With the skill and potential Swayman has shown at a young age, two poor games should not be enough to write him off. After the Senators game, Swayman said he promised his Bruins teammates that he would make it up to them. I am confident he will make do on that promise.
Leave a Reply