Like many members of the 2024-25 Boston Bruins, Jeremy Swayman’s campaign was not everything he was hoping for heading into the season. Coming off a playoff run that saw him will the Bruins to a series win against the Toronto Maple Leafs and keep them competitive against the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers in the second round, expectations were high for the young netminder. They were made even higher when he inked an eight-year deal to stay with the team ahead of opening night. It is safe to say that this contract is a cause for concern after the way Swayman played over the past six months. Let’s take a look at his season.
Swayman’s Hectic Summer and Fall
After the Bruins traded 2022-23 Vezina winner Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators last June, it became clear that Swayman was going to be their guy. It was assumed by the Bruins were close to a deal with their goaltender of the future, who was at the time a restricted free agent: if they weren’t, why would they deal Ullmark? As the summer went on, however, the two sides were unable to come to a deal. It took until Oct. 6, just days before the start of the regular season, for Swayman to finally come to an agreement with the Bruins.
The weeks and months leading up to the season were by no means ideal for a goalie preparing to take on a larger workload than he ever had before. After allowing four goals in his opening start, Swayman had an impressive outing against the Los Angeles Kings, showing no signs that his lack of training camp and preseason hockey was weighing on him. Then, however, he went on to lose four in a row. And the losses kept stacking up. In a span of just a few weeks, he allowed six goals to the Carolina Hurricanes, seven against the Dallas Stars, and five against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was ugly. Sure, he had some solid starts between these blow-ups, however he seemed far from as reliable as he had in seasons past.
An Ugly Second Half
Though it became apparent that the Bruins were not the contenders we have been used to seeing, Swayman had a decent January and February as an individual (the team lost 11 of his 16 starts, partially due to a lack of offense). Things began to fall apart for their star goalie in the last few months of the campaign, however. His goals against average (GAA) in March rose to 3.65 with an ugly save percentage (SV%) of .872. Swayman’s play did not improve much in April either, and in the last two months of the season the Bruins won just five of Swayman’s 18 starts. He finished the season with a 22-29-7 record, 3.11 GAA, .892 SV%, and four shutouts.
Swayman was far from the only issue with the 2024-25 Bruins. The team was unable to score enough goals to keep them competitive throughout the course of the season, they were careless defensively, and their special teams were the worst it has been in years. That said, they are paying their netminder to be the reason they win games and to keep them competitive even when the rest of the team is not at their best. Swayman was unable to do that this season.
Season Grade: C
This season was a weird one for the Bruins and Swayman in particular. There were plenty of new faces in the lineup, and it seemed like he was unable to get his feet under him after missing all of training camp and the preseason. That said, he gets a C on the season given that the Bruins missed the playoffs and his poor play was a part of the reason why. Swayman will be partaking in the 2025 IIHF World Championship and figures to enter next season with more preparation under his belt than he had this one. Bruins fans should be optimistic that he will bounce back to his usual self in 2025-26.
