Boston's horrendous summer continues as goalie's arbitration ask $2.8M above Bruins' current offer

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Mike Armenti
July 28, 2023 (11:30)

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Just as the Maple Leafs were in a tough spot with RFA netminder Ilya Samsonov, the Boston Bruins are in even tougher with 1B goalie Jeremy Swayman as salary arbitration approaches.

After an NHL record 135-point season, the Bruins failed to get it done when it mattered, dropping 3 consecutive games to the Florida Panthers, washing out in round 1 in an uncharacteristic collapse for one of the NHL's longest-standing top teams.

Like the Leafs and Samsonov, the Bruins and Swayman have been trying to hammer out a deal all summer, but remain very far apart in negotiations. Per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Swayman is seeking a deal worth $4.8M per season, while the team is coming in lower, at $2M per season. These are the figures that they'll be negotiating from during arbitration.

The Bruins are around $5.4M from the cap ceiling, with Swayman being joined by RFA forward Trent Frederic as the last two members of the club still unsigned. If Swayman gets anything more than what Samsonov got in Toronto ($3.55M), it could make things very tough on the Bruins, who have yet to replace captain and top line center, Patrice Bergeron, who retired earlier this week.

Thus far, the Bruins have lost Taylor Hall (trade), Dmitry Orlov (UFA), Tyler Bertuzzi (UFA), Patrice Bergeron (retirement) and David Krejci (future uncertain). They've replaced them with James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Shattenkirk, Milan Lucic, Morgan Geekie and Jesper Boqvist. Not exactly an improvement on any of these fronts.

Swayman produced a 24-6-4 record for the Bruins last season, sporting a 2.27 GAA and a .920 SV% across 37 appearances.