At long last: Jeremy Swayman and Bruins agree to new contract

Apparently, Jeremy Swayman just needed two million more reasons to sign a new contract with the Boston Bruins.

But after the last round of squabbling — highlighted by Cam Neely hinting at a $64 million offer — the two sides finally inked a new eight-year contract with an annual $8.25 million cap hit.

Sunday’s development officially ended a unique saga spanning nearly 16 months.

Indeed, Swayman carried over some of the tensions from last summer’s arbitration hearings. Whether through an appearance on the Amazon Prime miniseries documenting last year’s postseason or after a pair of regular season outings in January, Swayman didn’t shy away from opening up about his feelings toward the arbitration process.

With his “bulldog” mentality, Swayman used the arbitration process as fuel. In the third year as one half of the dynamic goalie tandem with Linus Ullmark, the former UMaine standout earned his first All-Star Game nod and made a career-high 44 regular season appearances (25-10-8, 2.53 GAA, .918 SV%).

Swayman followed up his solid regular season and arguably endured the best stretch of his career during his 12 postseason starts last spring. His breakthrough performance opened the door for a coveted, lucrative, long-term deal.

The Bruins had a rising salary cap to work with. They sent Ullmark to Ottawa (in exchange for Marc Kastellic, Joonas Korpisalo and 2024 first-round selection Dean Letourneau) to make room for Swayman’s extension. Boston used the first day of free agency to address the center and defensive needs at the top of their lineup.

Elias Lindholm (seven years, $7.25 million per year) and Nikita Zadorov (six years, $5 million per) highlighted the Boston free agency class of 2024. By the end of July 1, the Bruins had roughly between $8.6 and $8.7 million in cap space to work with during their negotiations with Swayman.

Putting pen to paper, however, became a challenge. In the process, Neely, Don Sweeney, Swayman and agent Lewis Gross engaged in public tensions through podcasts, press conferences and social media posts.

Between Swayman’s desire to set the goalie market on the “Shut up Marc Podcast“, Sweeney calling “BS” to the “Spitting Chicletts” crew over rumors of Boston’s initial offers, Neely’s 64 million reasons quote and Gross’ counterstatement on Instagram, the two sides navigated through one of the more contentious public negotiations in recent memory.

“Our party and our team know the truth,” Swayman told reporters during his press conference Sunday at Warrior Ice Arena. “At the same time, we found an agreement, and the fact that I could be here for eight years gives me goosebumps saying that.”

A development that seemed far-fetched nearly a week ago eventually inched closer to reality. After processing the prior events, Swayman and the Bruins kept the last round of negotiations behind the scenes.

While the rumors over salary differences briefly continued, cooler heads indeed prevailed.

“It was a day-by-day thing… it’s a negotiation,” Swayman told the media. “What I’m truly focused on is the future and the here and now. Everything else was a blur in my mind. And all I care about is being in net for the Boston Bruins right now, and I’m overjoyed with it. I’m really excited about that.”

Swayman’s contract could age well with the continued rising salary cap. He’ll enter opening night as the fourth-highest-paid active goalie behind Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million), Andrei Vasilevisky ($9.5 million) and Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million).

Between Swayman’s contract and the subsequent slew of roster moves — including placing Brandon Bussi on waivers — the Bruins have a little over $1.96 million in available salary cap space according to Puckpedia.

Swayman, who spent most of camp conditioning at Boston University, he’ll have his first opportunity to encounter a regular workload for a No. 1 goalie. He’ll enter catchup mode after missing the preseason, but he’ll have an improved defensive and center depth, along with goalie coach Bob Essensa, to help him navigate through some initial rust.

Through it all, the Bruins added another player to build their roster, with Swayman joining Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak as primary long-term investments. But whether the Bruins had 64 million reasons or Swayman had 66 million reasons to resign, the two sides remain motivated to work together toward obtaining another lucrative prize.

“The motivation is the Stanley Cup, through and through,” Swayman added. “That’s all I care about, and the process that us players have to go through to obtain a job, to obtain trust in our staff, in our teammates and the cities that we play for, that’s all motivation that gains up. I can guarantee you that this step in this chapter of my career is going to motivate me above and beyond what I’ve [done] before.

“Again, the end goal is to win a Stanley Cup, and I believe this is a group that can do it and have shots at it for many years. Every year I’m a part of it, I’m going to make sure that’s a reality. I’m just beyond grateful to be in this position.”