The Daily Faceoff: Frank Seravalli and Jason Gregor talk about the Boston Bruins and RFA goaltender Jeremy Swayman.
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Gregor: “Now, there are still a few RFAs. Detroit fans sat there and said, What about us, man? You have (Moritz) Seider. You have (Lucas) Raymond.
He’s got Swayman in Boston, you know, some reports about $10 million, I don’t know…”
Seravalli: “That is not true.
Gregor: “I think that’s a bit high. But, where do you come from these three agreements. Other important players.
Like, if Boston doesn’t have Ullmark and Swayman, that would be huge. Like, I guess they do eventually, right?”
Seravalli: “Yeah, look, the fact that Swayman was back at the Bruins practice facility without a contract, participating in informal captain’s skates was a really good sign.
As a person, I feel like that, I can’t tell you how I feel about Johnny Gaudreau’s agent, Lewis Gross, who represents Swayman, to return to the business at a time like this, in the end, ‘to be sad I hope it hurts them and it helps them to at least think of something else. But man, what a tough situation that is, you know, especially for an agent and, so close to Johnny and Matthew and his family. So I didn’t mention him before, but I certainly think of Lewis Gross.
And when it comes to Swayman, these two sides have been, I don’t know how far apart they are right now, but going back to July, Swayman’s camp was in the middle of eight, I believe, and the Bruins were in the middle. the lower to the middle six. So that’s an important gap in terms of AAV.
I don’t know where they stand on the length of the deal and the timing, but I wonder if it’s possible to go from where the Bruins want to pay for the goalie.
But here’s the thing if, if you were only created to pay a goalkeeper six or six and a half million a year, then Ullmark would be your man. You should have kept Ullmark then. Am I crazy when I talk like this?”
Gregor: “No, I don’t think so. I think that is accurate. And you know, you’re probably going to have to adjust that number as the end goes up here in the next few years. But in the end, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets to about $8 million, you know, (Connor) Hellebuyck range and stuff like that.
Now, he is young, so I can see many reasons why. I’m sure Hellebuyck’s camps are like hey or sorry, Swayman’s camp, it’s like, come here. We, there are, there are many arrows here, if only we have a reasonable discussion, where we can see,”
Seravalli: “But you also played a little bit. His body of work, it’s 132 games. Like, it’s not the same at all.”
Gregor: “No, no.”
Seravalli: “I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it. I’m just saying, it’s a completely different argument. So he hasn’t won, he hasn’t won at Vezina and he hasn’t won, and it’s still a goalie position, which is viewed very differently than anything else and it should be.”
Gregor: “Well, it’s funny that the goalie position, Frank, is where the contracts of the top guys have gone down. The defenders are still going up. The leaders are still going up.”
Seravalli: “It is understandable. It’s a position where, year in and year out, unless you’re one of the top three or five guys, you, you don’t really know what you’re getting.”
Gregor: “And you’re playing a few games now, aren’t you? Like, gone are the days of, basically, 70-game goalies. “
Seravalli: “We will never see you again.”
Gregor: “Yes, there will be someone who will do it, but I agree with you, but it is almost rare to see it.”
Seravalli: “You think we’ll have a goalkeeper at some point who will play 70 out of 82 games. I don’t know of anyone who can, with the demands of the position, be healthy enough to play 70 out of 82 games in a season.”
Gregor: “Now, you could be right, but I think you’re going to do something, injuries will lead to the team and they’ll be, you know, we’re in the race, we’re doing it.”
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