By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
There’s no denying it – the 2024-25 Boston Bruins have not lived up to expectations. Despite high expectations, almost every player on this team has a down year this year. Among those players, the most notable is netminder Jeremy Swayman.
Swayman, 26, played the 2023-24 season on a one-year, $3.475 million contract. Splitting the workload nearly evenly with former Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark, he had a strong season, starting 43 games and posting a 2.53 goals-against average along with a .916 save percentage.
Swayman’s most notable achievement of the 2023-24 campaign was his playoff performance. The Anchorage, Alaska, native started 12 postseason games, recording a 6-6 record with a stellar .933 save percentage and a 2.15 goals-against average. Heavily considered the main factor in what got Boston into the second round, the future of goaltending in Boston seemed sturdy thanks to Swayman’s dazzling performances.
After a promising regular season and a dominant postseason, the Bruins’ goaltending future looked bright. However, the offseason brought unexpected challenges. Linus Ullmark was traded to Ottawa, and Swayman and the Bruins failed to reach a contract agreement before training camp. As a result, Swayman held out, ultimately missing the entire camp and preseason before finally signing a deal on October 6th.
The public nature of the contract talks only added to the tension. Bruins president Cam Neely made headlines by publicly revealing the contract offer Swayman had turned down, just a week before Swayman eventually signed for a slightly higher price tag. This extremely public contract negotiation, combined with a missed training camp, set both Swayman and the Bruins off on the wrong foot, leaving them to play catch-up for much of the season.
After missing all of training camp, Swayman’s 2024-25 season got off to a rocky start. Despite winning his first two games, he dropped the next four, finishing October with a 3-4 record. So far, December remains the only month where he posted a winning record (7-2). For the season, Swayman currently sits at 20-26-6—not ideal given the offseason drama and his $8.25 million salary.
A consistent theme for the Bruins goaltender this season is inconsistency. At times, he flashes the brilliance that carried Boston through their 2024 postseason run; at others, he struggles with goals he should stop. Recently, Swayman got beat glove-side against Detroit when they opened the scoring against Boston with a goal that Swayman certainly should’ve had.
When the Boston netminder is sharp, he’s sharp. He’s posted four shutouts this season, with two coming against pretty strong teams in Minnesota and Tampa Bay. Thus far, the negative has far outweighed the positive when it comes to Boston’s goaltender. The inconsistent, streaky play has plagued Swayman, and a big part of that is due to the offseason drama and the very public contract negotiation.
That said, Swayman has a great opportunity ahead of him to regroup. With a full offseason of training and the chance to fine-tune his game during preseason — all things he missed out on last year — he should be better prepared for the upcoming season. Despite the struggles, the flashes of brilliance we saw from Swayman during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs offer a glimpse of the goalie the Bruins have locked up for the next seven years. Looking ahead, next season is primed to be a bounce-back year for the 26-year-old.
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