Swayman Focused On Big Season With Boston Bruins
The B's netminder stayed in Boston this summer and has had "one of the better training years of my life"
BRIGHTON, MA – The bad news is that Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman had to go through a salary arbitration process that he “wouldn’t want any of his friends to have go through.”
“It wasn’t a process I wanted to go through, but I understand that it’s a business,” said Swayman, while talking to the media at Warrior Ice Arena on Tuesday afternoon. “There’s no ill will in the process because I understand I’m not the first player to go through it. And I’m not the last. I definitely wouldn’t wish it upon any of my friends or teammates moving forward and I don’t want to do it ever again as well.”
The good news is that it’s been resolved with a one-year, $3.475 million contract for next season with “no ill will” toward the Boston Bruins organization, and an even more intensely honed dedication to next season’s results that saw him stick around Boston this summer while working with the B’s training staff and coaches to turning an already solid puck-stopper into the optimal version of himself.
“I definitely wouldn’t wish it on any of my friends or teammates…”
—Jeremy Swayman, on his arbitration experience with the Boston Bruins
“I’m grateful I went through it, I’m glad we got it done and I’m a Boston Bruin at the end of the day,” said Swayman. “I stuck around Boston this summer because I knew I was going to get the best training and the best coaching, and the best atmosphere to get back into it. That’s a commitment that I wanted to make everything personally to make sure I never have that feeling again like I did in Game 7.
“I think it’s one of the better training years of my life, and that doesn’t happen without [Bruins Performance Coaches] Kevin Neeld, Tim Lebbossiere and Mike Dunham, who has been on the ice with me countless times already. Those are some of the things I’ve seen this summer to really put an emphasis on my offseason training.”
While it clearly wasn’t pleasant, maybe, just maybe, going through the arbitration process has motivated him to an even higher degree to be his best self at 24 years old while just scratching the surface of showing he can be a No. 1 goalie at the NHL level.