Swayman signs 8-year, $66 million contract with Bruins

Jeremy Swayman signed an eight-year, $66 million contract with the Boston Bruins on Sunday. It has an average annual value of $8.25 million and runs through the 2031-32 season.

The 25-year-old goalie, who was a restricted free agent, was coming off a one-year, $3.475 million contract that he was awarded by an independent arbitrator Aug. 1, 2023.

He did not report to training camp, which began Sept. 18.

"Hey fans, 'Sway' here," Swayman said in a video posted by the Bruins on X. "I'm so excited to be back. I cannot thank you for all of your support throughout this entire process but we got a lot of new beginnings to start and I cannot wait to get going."

Bruins president Cam Neely said earlier this week that he felt Swayman wanted to stay in Boston.

"I strongly believe that Jeremy wants to play here," Neely said Oct. 2. "I've asked him flat-out, do you want to play here, and he does. I believe that they'll get a deal done. It's unfortunate it's not done today."

In the same press conference, Neely appeared to make public what the Bruins had offered Swayman, saying, "I know that I have 64 million reasons why I'd be playing right now."

Swayman's agent later that day said that number had never been discussed and that, "we will take a few days to discuss where we go from here."

When the Bruins opened training camp Sept. 18, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said he was optimistic a deal would get done.

"I will say that every day that Jeremy is out, it hurts our team," Sweeney said, "and it hurts him because of the preparation that we would like to do and he needs to do, but it's not going to stop us from hopefully finding common ground and getting it done"

Swayman was 25-10-8 with a 2.53 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and three shutouts in 44 regular-season games (43 starts) for the Bruins last season and 6-6 with a 2.15 GAA and .933 save percentage in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"I'm confident that my agent and I and management will figure out the details this summer and I'm looking forward to it," Swayman said May 19. "I think it's obvious how much I care about this organization, how much I care about this team and this city, and I wouldn't want it to be any other way. I couldn't be more happy to be a Bruin."

Selected by Boston in the fourth round (No. 111) of the 2017 NHL Draft, Swayman is 79-33-15 with a 2.34 GAA, .919 save percentage and 12 shutouts in 132 regular-season games (125 starts) and 9-10 with a 2.38 GAA and .922 save percentage in 20 playoff games (18 starts).

He and Linus Ullmark helped Boston win the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals in the NHL in 2022-23 (177, including shootout deciding goals), 36 ahead of the next closest team, the Carolina Hurricanes (213 goals allowed). That season, the Bruins set NHL single-season records for wins (65) and points (135).

Ullmark was traded to the Ottawa Senators on June 24 for goalie Joonas Korpisalo, forward Mark Kastelic and a 1st-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, paving the way for Swayman to be a No. 1 for the first time.

The Bruins open the regular season at the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS). Boston was defeated by Florida in six games in the Eastern Conference Second Round last season.

On Tuesday, Sweeney said he didn't think Swayman could be ready for the opener since he hasn't been in camp.

"We're getting late enough into camp that it's unlikely that Jeremy would be in a position [for the start of the regular season], but today's a new day to continue to have the discussion and hopefully bridge the gap that would exist," Sweeney said.

Said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery: "I would piggyback on that, saying where we are in camp right now, how well camp has gone and how well Korpisalo has done, is right now he’s going to be our Game 1 starter."

NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamim contributed to this report