By: Chad Jones | Follow me on Twitter/X @ShutUpChadJones
No Boston Bruins player entered the 2025-2026 season with more pressure on them than Jeremy Swayman. He missed the entirety of training camp the prior campaign while negotiating a new contract and spent the rest of the year playing catch-up.
Swayman ended up signing an eight-year, $64 million deal. However, the Bruins’ goaltender could not consistently find his game during the 2024-2025 campaign.
With Linus Ullmark now with the Ottawa Senators, Swayman took on an even greater workload. But unfortunately for Boston, he struggled throughout the year, posting career lows with a 3.11 goals-against average and a save percentage of .892.
But with Marco Sturm entering his first season as the Bruins’ head coach, Swayman was able to reset entirely. With a full off-season devoid of contract negotiations and participating during training camp, Swayman entered the year in a much better position for success.
And he responded in kind with a great season between Boston’s pipes. He was one of the Bruins top players this season, and at times carried the Black and Gold for significant stretches.
In 55 games, 54 of which were starts, Swayman put up good numbers across the board. He posted a 2.71 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage, and a record of 31-18-4. Swayman also compiled two shutouts as well.
Especially considering the Bruins allowed the fifth most shots per game, 29.71 per contest, Swayman needed to be locked in order for the Bruins to have success. And he put forth some of his best play of the season in stressful, competitive games down the stretch as Boston fought for, and eventually earned, the first wild card spot in the crowded Eastern Conference.
For his work, Swayman was one of the goalies this season nominated for the Vezina Trophy. The Bruins goaltender was one of three finalists, alongside Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Despite the Bruins season ending in the first round of the playoffs against the Buffalo Sabres, Swayman put together a good series between the pipes. He posted a 2.91 goals against average with a .906 save percentage. But with Boston struggling mightily in their own end with turnovers and clean breakouts, Swayman’s statistics were negatively impacted.
Overall, the Bruins have to be pleased with Swayman’s performance this season. Under Sturm, his numbers increased significantly while he appeared in nearly the same number of games as the season before.
It would have been borderline alarming for the organization had Swayman put together back-to-back shaky campaigns over the first two years of his contract extension. Now, the question remains: what is his ceiling as an NHL goaltender?
Swayman has put up effective numbers as a solidified number one goaltender and has shown he can improve his play for the postseason. However, Boston has only won one playoff series with him starting in net.
As the Bruins front office continue to improve their roster construction, Swayman will be a pillar in Boston. It will be interesting to see if the Bruins can eventually string together a long playoff run with him in the crease.
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