NHL Network: David Pagnotta on the NHL Network when asked about some the restricted NHL free agents who are still looking for new contracts including Jeremy Swayman, Seth Jarvis, Dawson Mercer, Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Jamie Hersch: “We’ve also seen some RFAs re-sign lately, and even a couple of offer sheets have thrown things completely out of whack. Jeremy Swayman, though, is really the biggest RFA name that’s still out there. What is the latest with Swayman and the Bruins? Is there a drama there at all?
Pagnotta: “I don’t know. I wouldn’t go that far. I think that, look, the conversations are ongoing. Jim Montgomery, their head coach, the other day, or a few days ago, speaking that he’s confident that he’ll be able to get, that they’ll be able to get something done, and that Swayman will be at camp. Both sides seem, again, pretty positive that they’re going to get there before camp in the next few weeks. Now, it’s just a matter of hunkering down and getting things done.
There are a few other restricted free agents that are due for contracts as well. Detroit’s got a few guys. Winnipeg has Cole Perfetti, and so on. So there are other players as well.
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Carolina, with as you see there Seth Jarvis as well. I could give you a quick update on some of these guys, like Seth Jarvis, for example, I believe they are pretty close to an eight-year extension. That seems to be word on the street, north of seven, perhaps even north of $7.5 million on an AAV. It sounds like they’re pretty much right there with respect to a new extension for Seth Jarvis. So don’t be surprised if we hear that coming in the next few days.
Conversely, both Dawson Mercer and Lucas Raymond, not there yet. They’re not close to an extension, but they are having ongoing discussions. I spoke with everybody on both sides of both of those, both of those players, excuse me, and yeah, they’re not close, but there’s no concern. There’s no worry just yet.
Another note on, on Detroit, I should add as well, Jonatan Berggren also an RFA. They expect a deal done, either a one-year contract or a short, multi-year deal, but he’s expected to be ready for camp. He’s actually coming into Detroit over the weekend, so everything kind of points towards him locking in to a new deal. But a lot of it depends on what happens with Raymond and Seider as well, but everything looks cozy on that front.
And as I said, Seth Jarvis, eight-year extension with Carolina looks likely in the coming days.”
Hersch: “And with Swayman. I mean, it seems like he’s got a lot of leverage because he’s the guy in Boston.”
Pagnotta: “Yeah, well, absolutely, he’s the main guy with Ullmark now in, in Ottawa. I mean, it’s Swayman’s net wholeheartedly. So now it comes down to if you are going the eight-year extension route, are you looking at numbers similar to what Saros got. Are you pushing towards something in the direction of Ilya Sorokin?
You going over eight? Like it really depends on what direction they want to take here with the Boston Bruins. but it sounds like the Bruins and Swayman are both set on an eight-year extension. It just comes down to what type of numbers, it ultimately comes down to. There’s the bonus structure. There’s no-trade protection. All of those elements come into play, and all of those provide some type of leverage on one side versus the other.
But Swayman, definitely poised to take over the number one role with the Boston Bruins. He’ll also be in line for Four Nations, for the Olympics in another year. You know, he’s going to want to continue to bolster those numbers even more so than what he performed at last season.
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So, again, a few weeks away, both sides see confident that he’ll be ready for camp, it’s just a matter of getting, the getting everything kind of organized and crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s.