As reporters attempted to find the truth of the back-and-forth, about what pushed the deal to fruition, about whether Monday’s events catapulted the two sides here, Swayman demurred.
“You can dissect it all you want and think about it. What’s that going to do?” Swayman said. “We’re here right now. I’ve got a plane to catch in an hour.”
That impending plane ride, though, does underscore what was lost in all the negotiations, which dragged on far longer than anyone had anticipated. Swayman is not expected to start the Bruins season opener on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS). Instead, it will be Joonas Korpisalo in net as Swayman attempts to get back up to speed as quickly as possible, having missed the entirety of training camp.
Swayman wasn’t idle, though.
The goalie spent camp over on Commonwealth Avenue, training with Hockey East rivals Boston University, who are coached by former Bruins assistant Jay Pandolfo. He said he was indebted to them for getting him up to speed ahead of the regular season.
“I’m a Black Bear at heart, a through and through Black Bear,” Swayman said, of his college days at the University of Maine. “But I could not have done it without BU. … I was there every day, as soon as camp started. They gave me an oasis to completely escape the outside world.”
That outside world, though, couldn’t stop talking about him.
It was six days ago that Neely sat at a podium at TD Garden and said the words that ricocheted around the hockey ecosystem, “I don’t want to get into the weeds with what his ask is, but I know that I have $64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now.”
Later that night, Gross fired back, a statement that included, “At today’s press conference, $64 million was referenced. This was the first time that number was discussed in our negotiations. Prior to the press conference, no offer was made reaching that level.”
Gross said it was unfair to Swayman, that the sides would take a few days to discuss how to proceed.
Less than a week later, the deal was agreed upon.
“For me, that’s just an indication of both sides would like to find a deal,” general manager Don Sweeney said, asked about the back-and-forth. “Ultimately, we did.”
Sweeney said he didn’t believe the comments by Neely last week. Because they were already working with deadlines, with the season fast approaching.
This is not the first time that the Bruins have had contentious negotiations with a player. They saw Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak and Brandon Carlo all miss varying amounts of training camp before signing deals. None missed all of camp, however, like Swayman.
“I think I’ve been pretty consistent in saying that every deal has its own timeline,” Sweeney said. “There’s twists, turns and such. You’d hope they’d be a straight and narrow path, but it just doesn’t always work out that way.
“You have to be respectful and listen. I think that’s part of this whole exercise of going through a negotiation is you have to be willing to listen to what’s important for the other party.”
They both wanted the longest deal possible, with Swayman saying, “What I knew was my heart was going to be in Boston and I was going to do everything I could and my team was going to do everything we could to stay a Bruin for my whole career.”
Swayman, who said he felt an incredible amount of support from the fans and the city, loves playing for the Bruins. He loves the bright lights and the intense competition. He loves the chance to play for a Stanley Cup, the near-guarantee of a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the opportunity to make a mark.
The Bruins, meanwhile, had put all their eggs in Swayman’s basket, having traded former goalie partner Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators back in June. They didn’t really have a Plan B.
He needed them. They needed him.
“I’m just so excited to be a Boston Bruin,” Swayman said. “The fact that we went through this process and the tools that I learned with it, it’s gone now. All I care about is being a Bruin. The fact that I can do that for eight years and instill myself as a leader and as a true member of this city is all I care about right now.
“I couldn’t be happier.”
