Sweeney: Re-signing Swayman is a ‘priority’ for Bruins this offseason

Sweeney: Re-signing Swayman is a ‘priority’ for Bruins this offseason originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins have Lots of work to do during the NHL offseasonand perhaps no task is more important than re-signing goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman.

The product of the University of Maine is Coming off a stellar playoff run during which he established himself as the team’s number 1 goalkeeper.

Swayman came out of the playoffs ranked first in save percentage and goals saved above expected. He started 12 of the Bruins’ 13 postseason games, and it’s unlikely they would have survived their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs without his stellar performance in net. Swayman has allowed two or fewer goals in nine of his 12 starts.

Swayman, for the second straight offseason, could become a restricted free agent. The two sides needed arbitration to reach a contract for the 2023-24 campaign. Neither side wants to go through this process again.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Wednesday during the team’s season-ending press conference that working on an extension with Swayman remains a priority for the organization.

“It’s a priority now and it will continue to be a priority until we cross the finish line,” Sweeney said.

“He’s a big part of our current team and our playoff run and our future. Our goaltending is without a doubt one of the best tandems in the NHL, and they have proven that throughout the season. in a situation most nights to have the opportunity to win. The priority will be finding a landing spot with Jeremy.”

If Swayman’s next contract carries a salary cap hit of $5 million or more, the Bruins will use up more than $10 million in cap space at the goalie position. Backup netminder Linus Ullmark still has one year left on his contract with a $5 million cap hit.

It doesn’t make much sense to dedicate so much space to goaltenders, especially when the Bruins have other glaring roster weaknesses to address in the offseason, including the need for another striker in the top six. The best-case scenario for the Bruins would be to trade Ullmark, but he has some control over that process as a result of the 16-team no-trade clause in his contract. Ullmark made it clear during the breakup last weekend that he prefers to remain in Boston.

“We’re going to find a landing spot with Jeremy Swayman,” Sweeney said. “If we can make the math work, we will have the best set. If we can’t, let’s explore. And/or Linus could come to us and change his mind. This can also happen. At this moment, he is very happy. We were very happy to hire Linus. And in a perfect world, we would maintain the tandem. Because I think it’s really good. But let’s explore opportunities. My phone will ring. I’ll make calls. That’s exactly what the job demands.”

Ullmark is a year removed from his Vezina Trophy-winning campaign. His performance dipped a bit last season, but he’s still a very good goaltender and would be an upgrade for a lot of teams, even some that made the playoffs.

Trading Ullmark would weaken the Bruins’ depth and talent in net. But sometimes you need to use depth at one position to upgrade another. And given the current state of the Bruins’ roster, having additional salary cap space to potentially acquire future impact is more valuable than having two really good goaltenders.