Arbitration Dates Set For Boston Bruins, But Will They Need Them?
Jeremy Swayman, Trent Frederic and Ian Mitchell all face arbitration hearing deadlines to get new deals done
With NHL free agency and Boston Bruins development camp in the rear-view mirror, the sights are set for the B’s front office on the rest of the B’s offseason. With that in mind, the NHL and NHLPA announced the arbitration hearing dates for each of Boston’s applicable RFA players that includes Trent Frederic (Aug 1), Jeremy Swayman (July 30) and newly acquired defenseman Ian Mitchell (July 26) with the Black and Gold.
The good news is that each of these players agreeing to arbitration takes an offer sheet possibility off the table, but let’s be honest…the offer sheet is never really a true danger anyway with players like Swayman and Frederic that want to stick around with the Bruins. It makes for good click bait stories to say that the Winnipeg Jets are poised to jump all over Swayman with an offer sheet, but the odds of that kind of thing ever happening are astronomical beyond belief.
Further good news is that an arbitration hearing date doesn’t preclude the two sides from reaching a separate contract agreement prior to the hearing, though both sides will be locked into salary arbitration once the hearing actually begins.
“We know there’s a path and there will be a right solution on the other side…”
—Don Sweeney
If that’s the case then it would be a one or two-year deal for each player, though arbitration is something both the Boston Bruins and the players are obviously hoping to avoid after the B’s signed non-arbitration eligible restricted Bruins free agents Jakub Lauko and Kyle Keyser last week.
“We’re all working hard on that front. Having pretty much constant dialogue with all three players and representatives – you know that’s always the hope,” said Don Sweeney, when asked about avoiding salary arbitration with those three RFA’s. “But, we know there’s a path and there will be a right solution on the other side and one way or another they will be part of our organization so, it’s just a tool in the toolbox, that either player elects or the club elects and you go through and but hopefully we can.
“It’s not the ultimate goal for anybody on either side but it is a path that determines if the player will be back.”
The Boston Bruins currently have about $5.5 million in salary cap space, per our friends at PuckPedia, and the clear hope is that they could fit all three of those players under that current cap number. It will all inevitably come down to the 24-year-old Swayman, who has put together strong enough numbers to be in some pretty good company among young goaltenders.