Swayman’s agent says Bruins’ $64 million offer wasn’t presented

Just a few hours after Cam Neely seemed to suggest that the Bruins have presented Jeremy Swayman with a $64 million contract offer, the restricted free agent goaltender’s agent responded with a strongly worded statement about the state of their contractual stalemate. 

Swayman’s agent, Lewis Gross, posted the statement on social media Monday night.

“Normally, I do not release statements or discuss negotiations through the media,” Gross noted. “However, in this case, I feel the need to defend my client. 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.

“We are extremely disappointed. This was not fair to Jeremy. We will take a few days to discuss where we go from here.” 

Gross’ comments stand as the latest development in what has already been a contentious contract negotiation between the Bruins, Swayman, and his representatives. 

During Monday’s season-opening press conference, Neely offered up some candid comments about the current contractual impasse, minutes after Jim Montgomery announced that Joonas Korpisalo will start the team’s season-opening game on Oct. 8. 

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

Given Swayman’s reported focus on signing an eight-year contract, a $64 million payout would represent an annual cap hit of $8 million — well above the $3.475 million he commanded during the 2023-24. 

That $8 million cap hit would make Swayman the fifth-highest-paid goalie in the NHL behind Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million AAV), Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million), Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million), and Ilya Sorokin ($8.25 million). 

Even if that $8 million payout might be overshooting some of Swayman’s current contract comparables given his age and reps, it would at least fall in line with the rising cap ceiling that is expected to play out over the next couple of years. 

Neely said on Monday that he believes Swayman’s previous sentiment about wanting to not “ruin the goalie market” for the netminders after him with his new deal, adding that he feels that Boston has not low-balled Swayman out of the gate.

“I think overall Don’s done a really good job of initial offers to players,” Neely said. “One of the things we talked about when he got the job was, being a former player, I’m not a big fan of low-ball, high-ball, figure it out somewhere in the middle. It’s like, ‘OK, get the right comps, get the right comp group, put the right offer on the table.’ I think Don’s past has shown that he can get deals done. This is one that’s just been a little trickier.”

While Neely’s blunt comments grabbed most of the headlines on Monday afternoon, Don Sweeney offered a more standard response when asked about the state of contract talks.

“There’s a marketplace for every positional player, and we’re firmly among that grouping. So no — no surprise and I never begrudge a player for doing it,” Sweeney said when asked if he was “surprised” by Swayman’s initial ask. “And you can’t when a player decides to take it to free agency when it’s their right, they shouldn’t, you know, begrudge us either. You know, at the end of the day, those are decisions that they’re making for their own well being and happiness.”

But, any potential progress being forged between Boston and Swayman’s camp might have taken a sizable step back on Monday, especially following Gross’ statement.

Gross mentioning that the $64 million was not presented “prior to the press conference” might mean that the Bruins formally presented such a deal on Monday afternoon. But if that was the case, it still stands as an unusual move by Boston’s management.

“I strongly believe that Jeremy wants to play here,” Neely noted on Monday. “I’ve asked him flat-out, ‘Do you want to play here?’ And he does.”