Bruins sign Jeremy Swayman to eight-year contract with $8.25 million AAV

It looks like Jeremy Swayman actually had 66 million reasons to be playing hockey for the Boston Bruins again.

After a lengthy and well-documented stalemate between the two parties on a new contract, the Bruins and their starting goaltender have finally come to an agreement on an eight-year deal with an $8.25 million contract.

SWAY. IS. SIGNED. 🖊️ pic.twitter.com/CHewi2swjF

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 6, 2024

Swayman was the last remaining restricted free agent on the market going into the 2024-25 season, as he had completed his previous one-year, $3.48 million contract, a deal that had been signed after undergoing arbitration.

While the two parties did not use arbitration with this contract, it was still a bit of a public negotiation, especially recently when Bruins president Cam Neely hinted at a rejected contract total they had given Swayman when saying there was “64 million reasons” for him to be playing, only for Swayman’s agent, Lewis Gross, to release a statement denying the claim, with Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli confirming that the actual offer was with a $7.8 million cap hit.

Both parties locked down a new deal before the cap complications began on Monday’s 5 p.m. EST deadline to submit season-opening rosters, which would have costed Swayman money and the Bruins cap space this season.

There are currently no details regarding any no-move/no-trade clauses or signing bonuses with this contract.

Swayman receives a raise of more than $5 million per year, tying him with New York Islanders‘ goaltender Ilya Sorokin for the fifth-highest cap hit among goaltenders next season. With this new contract, the Bruins lock Swayman up until he’s 33 years old at 9.38% of the 2024-25 salary cap.

Swayman is coming off of another excellent season in goal in 2023-24, as he had a 25-10-8 record, a .916% save percentage, 3 shutouts and 22.79 goals saved above expected through 44 games. He also had a 6-6 record with a .933% save% and 11.64 GSAx through 12 playoff games as the Bruins were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Florida Panthers in six games.

However, this upcoming season is looking to be Swayman’s biggest yet, as now that the Bruins have traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators, Swayman will look to he the main starter in Boston this year. While the Bruins did get Joonas Korpisalo in return in the deal, who will get the opening night start on Tuesday against the Panthers, Swayman will be expected to get more of the workload this year.