In a heated contract dispute that lasted the whole summer, the Boston Bruins and starting goalie Jeremy Swayman were unable to come to an agreement on a new long-term deal.

Just a few days before the season began, on Sunday morning, they finally came to an agreement.

Swayman will become one of the top paid goalies in the NHL with this eight-year contract, which is valued at $8.25 million a season. Only the semi-retired Carey Price (Montreal), Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida), Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay), and Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg) have higher salary caps than him, with $8.25 million.

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

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) October 6, 2024

Swayman is expected to be one of the most significant players on the Bruins’ roster this season, therefore it was imperative that they contract him.

For the previous two seasons, Swayman and Linus Ullmark shared the nett 50/50; this goaltender combination proved to be the best in the league. The fact that the Bruins had a real No. 1 goalie in their net every night helped to hide many of the team’s shortcomings.

In order to free up salary-cap space, Ullmark was traded to the Ottawa Senators this offseason, allowing Swayman to assume the role of full-time starter.

The Bruins management had leaked a “$64M” figure to the media last week, which was the only issue that caused the contract negotiations to become heated. In response, Swayman and his counsel stated that the Bruins’ offer never got that far along and that they would need to consider their options for a few days.

Ultimately, more sensible judgment won out, and Swayman received $66 million over the following eight years.

Among the 65 goalies who have played in at least 50 games since the 2021–22 season began, Swayman’s.916 save percentage ranks sixth in the NHL.

Agent ‘disappointed,’ according to Swayman, claims the Bruins never made a $64 million offer.

On Monday, the Boston Bruins and restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman’s contract impasse escalated to a new level of controversy when the goaltender’s representative vehemently rejected the terms the team claimed to have offered him.

Without a new contract, Swayman, 25, decided not to go to Bruins training camp. Goalie Joonas Korpisalo is anticipated to start the Bruins’ season opener against the Florida Panthers on October 8, according to coach Jim Montgomery.

Team president Cam Neely stated that while he thinks Swayman wants to play in Boston, it’s “unfortunate” that a deal hasn’t been finalized during a preseason news conference on Monday in Boston.

“I don’t want to get into the weeds with what his ask is,” he stated, “but I know that I have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now.”

Lewis Gross, Swayman’s agent, retaliated against the Bruins on Monday night, contesting those contract figures and lamenting the team’s discussion of them.

In an Instagram statement, Gross added, “Normally, I do not release statements or discuss negotiations through the media.” But in this instance, I believe I must stand up for my client. $64 million was mentioned during today’s news briefing. That was the first time in our conversations that the number was brought up. No offer to that extent was made before the press conference.”

“We are deeply let down. It wasn’t fair to Jeremy, said Gross. “We will take a few days to discuss where we go from here.”

When ESPN’s Kristen Shilton reached out to the Bruins, they “respectfully passed” on responding to Gross’s remarks.

Neely said he was surprised by Swayman’s asking price and that he thought his contract would let Swayman to start over in the goalkeeper market.

“What his ask is, and what we believe his comp group is, are two different things,” Neely stated.

After the Bruins traded goalie Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators during the offseason, Swayman is anticipated to be the team’s primary starting netminder. Over the previous three seasons, that pairing was the best in the NHL, and they contributed to the Bruins’ lowest goals-against average (2.49) during that time. However, general manager Don Sweeney stated that due to issues with playing time and the pay cap, the two had to be split apart.

“We decided to go off on a path. Goalies asked to participate in 55 games. With reference to the Ullmark trade that sent Korpisalo to Boston, Sweeney remarked, “That’s not possible if you’re playing on the same team.” “We made the choice to decide. With Jeremy, we felt at ease moving forward. We were aware of Linus’s expected return.”

Sweeney has come under fire for trading Ullmark without Swayman being committed to a new contract, which reduced the team’s negotiating power. The general manager stated that the trade and the negotiation “are not connected,” although he would not specify where the discussions with Swayman took place at the time of the Ullmark trade.

“I have no regrets about that decision at all. We made the choice to move forward and address areas where we could gain from the free agent market,” Sweeney said.

Swayman will play in the NHL for the fifth time. His record is 79-33-15, and he has allowed 2.34 goals against on average while saving.919 of them.

Last season, Swayman received a one-year deal for $3.475 million after it was decided by arbitration. This offseason, he decided not to apply for arbitration, and the Bruins declined to take Swayman to arbitration, so Sweeney and Gross will have to negotiate over his new deal.

The Bruins reportedly made Swayman an offer for an eight-year contract, which is the longest the NHL can allow. Additionally, rumors have stated that Swayman’s representatives are seeking an average annual value on his next deal of up to $9.5 million. That would place him in a tie with Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tampa for the third-highest goalie cap hit in the NHL, behind only Carey Price of Montreal ($10.5 million) and Sergei Bobrovsky of Florida ($10 million).

Prior to the Bruins training camp, Sweeney stated that he anticipated Swayman would return to the team before December 1, which is when the contract expires for this season.