Jeremy Swayman experienced one of the worst evenings of his professional career, a public humiliation that sadly recalls the famous December 2, 1995, when Patrick Roy was left on the ice by Mario Tremblay against the Detroit Red Wings.
This time, it was in Winnipeg against the Jets, that Swayman conceded 8 goals, under the shocked gaze of his head coach, Joe Sacco.
A nightmarish evening that revived painful memories for hockey fans and plunged the Boston Bruins into a major crisis.
With the Jets racking up goals and the Bruins defense looking overwhelmed, all eyes were on the bench.
Why leave Jeremy Swayman on the ice when he was going through real torture? The answer may well lie in the tensions that marked last summer, during which the 25-year-old guard stood up to the organization to obtain his lucrative 8-year, $8.25 million per season contract. .
Some observers see it as a punitive decision, a way for the coach to remind Swayman and the team that no one is above the institution.
But this choice had the opposite effect. Rather than mobilizing his troops, this public humiliation fractured the locker room and aroused the anger of the supporters.
Fan reactions are unequivocal.
On social networks, calls to trade Jeremy Swayman have multiplied.
“This contract is a disaster,” wrote one Internet user, while another denounced “disastrous management of the team and an overpaid goalkeeper who does not have the mentality for Boston.”
In Winnipeg, the boos that accompanied every goal Swayman conceded were clear.
For many, this evening sums up the failure of a relationship between the goaltender and an organization which chose to bet on him after the trade of Linus Ullmark this summer.
Trust, already weakened by the contractual saga, now seems broken.
Jeremy Swayman now finds himself in a difficult position. Far from being the expected hero after last year’s impressive playoff run, he became the target of some very harsh criticism.
For many, this evening sums up the failure of a relationship between the goaltender and an organization which chose to bet on him after the trade of Linus Ullmark this summer. Trust, already weakened by the contractual saga, now seems broken.
It all started during the summer, when Jeremy Swayman was looking for a long-term contract after an impressive season, including a .933 save percentage in the playoffs.
Negotiations between Swayman and the Boston Bruins quickly took a public and tense turn, proving deep fractures in the relationship between the player and the organization.
Bruins president Cam Neely surprised the media by declaring during a press conference that the team had offered Swayman $8 million per season. He added:
“I don’t want to go into detail about what he’s asking, but I know I have 64 million reasons why I would be playing right now. »
This statement, interpreted as pressure on Swayman, angered his agent, Lewis Gross, who responded publicly.
Gross had claimed that this amount had never been discussed before and criticized the organization for trying to negotiate through the media.
Swayman, determined to be paid as high as the league’s best goalies, was looking for a contract worth around $9.5 million per season, comparable to that of Andrei Vasilevskiy.
This request left the Bruins in a difficult situation. Today, he has an efficiency percentage of 885. And a goals against average of 3.27.
As negotiations dragged on, rumors emerged that Swayman was refusing to answer calls from the organization.
Worse, sources claimed that the Bruins themselves would not have communicated with the player for several weeks. This situation had created enormous tension within the team and in the media.
To complicate matters, Boston decided to trade Linus Ullmark to Ottawa during the summer, choosing to rely on Swayman as their primary goaltender.
The move, while freeing up space under the salary cap, increased pressure on Swayman, now seen as the rock of the Bruins’ future. But this bet seemed risky, in particular because of the difficult negotiations with his camp.
The situation became even worse after comments broadcast on the podcast Spittin’ Chiclets, hosted by Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney.
Whitney said Boston offered a four-year contract at $6.2 million per season, but there was no communication for three weeks.
These revelations added fuel to the fire, reinforcing the idea of a conflict poorly managed by both parties.
A late signing and high expectations
Finally, a few days before the start of the season, the Bruins and Swayman had found common ground, agreeing to an 8-year contract for $8.25 million per season.
Although this outcome put an end to the contractual saga, it was not enough to calm the critics. A portion of fans and analysts felt this contract was too high for a guard who, while excellent, had yet to prove he could be a consistent long-term star.
This saga left deep wounds in the relationship between Swayman, his team and the fans.
Swayman needs to be traded. For him. For the Bruins. For everyone.
Well the Bruins are clearly dreaming of Samuel Montembeault. But Kent Hughes will never sacrifice the Quebecer. His contract is so nice at $3.15 million per year until 2027.
Even though they are from the Boston area, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton will never make a Swayman-Montembeault trade.
The Bruins were handed a lemon. Swayman’s contract is one of the worst in the NHL.
