We are three weeks away from the Boston Bruins’ first preseason game against the New York Rangers at TD Garden, and Jeremy Swayman is still a restricted free agent. Both sides have expressed confidence that a deal will get done ahead of the season, and he participated in the Bruins’ captain’s practice earlier this week. That said, it is a major area of concern. If Swayman were to hold out to begin the season, the Bruins would be without both of their Vezina-Trophy-caliber netminders from a season ago. Let’s examine a couple of contracts that may be comparable to what Swayman may receive when he eventually puts pen to paper.
2017: Carey Price
Carey Price signed a monstrous contract to stay with the Montreal Canadiens in 2017, receiving $84 million over eight years. The deal has aged like milk for the team. They received three solid seasons of play from Price after he signed, however, injuries have held him back since. He has not played a game for the team since April, 2022, and his return is not in sight.
This contract is likely in the ballpark of what Swayman will receive in term, however, if the Bruins were to hand him a deal the same length as Price’s, they should feel better about the likely outcome. Price was 30 years old when his deal was signed, and he had already started 500-plus NHL games. Swayman is just 25 and has only 132 NHL starts under his belt. The Bruins should feel good about his longevity, as he likely has a lot more left in the tank than Price did in 2018. On top of that, he is unlikely to receive a contract carrying an average annual value (AAV) of more than $10 million like the Canadiens gave to Price.
2019: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 2019 contract is likely the closest one-to-one comparison we can make to the situation Swayman and the Bruins find themselves in at the moment. Vasilevskiy was coming off a stellar 2018-19 season where he won the Vezina Trophy and, like Swayman, he entered negotiations at 25 years old. The two sides landed on an eight-year contract worth $76 million for an AAV of $9.5 million.
This deal has aged beautifully for the Lightning. Vasilevskiy led the Bolts to the Stanley Cup in each of the three years following the signing of his deal, winning it in 2020 and 2021. He was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for the league’s most valuable player at the conclusion of the 2021 playoffs, becoming the first goalie to do so since the Los Angeles Kings’ Jonathan Quick in 2012.
WEEI’s Rich Keefe reported that Swayman was looking for an AAV of $10 million, which is north of what Vasilevskiy received in 2019. NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported on a recent appearance on Sportsnet’s The Big Show with Rusic and Rose, however, that Swayman was looking for somewhere around $8 million while the Bruins were in the low $6-million range. Swayman has not won a Vezina, and he does not have the accolades Vasilevskiy had when he entered negotiations in 2019. However, it seems likely there’s an NHL team out there that would happily give him a contract in the ballpark of $8 million annually. With that in mind, the Bruins will likely need to meet him close to that number if they hope to get a long-term deal done ahead of the season.
Contract Comparisons
It seems both Swayman and the Bruins feel confident they will get a deal done ahead of the season. What that deal will look like is to be determined. Swayman’s camp is likely pointing to Vasilevskiy’s deal as a comparable to work off of, even if they are asking for a lower AAV. Regardless, the Bruins should feel good about signing Swayman to a long-term deal, as he is entering his prime and is set to be one of the best goalies in the NHL over the coming years.
