Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins Still Have Work To Do
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Mick Kern and Dennis Bernstein on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio and was asked what the latest was on Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
NHL Rumors: RFA Goaltender Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins
Mick Kern: “Well, on that note, what’s going on with Jeremy Swayman in the Bruins? It just seems like an obvious one. When they traded the, you know, part one of the hugging team to Ottawa or whatever. And again, a bigger question. Dave and we tried to talk about this. Dennis and I, I understand, I always take the player’s side as a knee-jerk reaction.
Get the money that you can because you’re disposable the minute you’re not any good to a team. I get it. I get that from the team’s perspective too. So get your money, but you also want to win. So how much do you want to quote, unquote, strangle the salary cap so they can’t get anybody else? That’s kind of a balancing act, and all the old hometown discount stuff, right?”
NHL Rumors: Jeremy Swayman Looking for Charlie McAvoy Money?
Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, it is, and that is a factor, certainly to a certain degree. And you know, the offer that has become public. Ryan Whitney, full credit to him for being the first on it, and it was accurate four years and 6.2 AAV, which was what the team offered. Although I do believe, I think that that happened at the beginning of the process this offseason.”
Kern: “Is this Swayman you are talking about?”
Pagnotta: “Yes, so obviously, those conversations have shifted over the course of the summer. But, I mean, so I get the discount side of things. But if Boston was in the 6.2 range at the start of these conversations, and Swayman was nine plus, I mean, okay, you can take a little bit of a discount. But there’s not a $3 million discount here.”
Kern: “No, no, no.”
NHL Rumors: Optimism Suddenly Gone in Boston’s Talks with Jeremy Swayman
So they’ve had a lot of work to do over the course of this this summer. So yes, that factors, but again, it’s got to be realistic on both sides. So they’re continuing that as well, trying to bridge that financial gap, and it’s been a struggle. Dawson Mercer, with New Jersey, hadn’t really been much there either.
I think those; you’re probably looking at Swayman, sider and Raymond on long-term deals at the end of this, and I think you’re probably seeing guys like Mercer and Perfetti on short bridge deals two years, maybe three.
But again, everyone’s got to come to the table. Everyone loves to work on a deadline, and we have an unofficial deadline, I guess, with the team being the start of camps. So maybe things really gain momentum over the weekend.”