Elliotte Friedman addressed false reports during his most recent 32 Thoughts podcast that Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins had come to an agreement on an eight-year deal. Saying he didn’t want to kick anyone while they were down because they got a story wrong, he thinks there’s still a gap between what Swayman wants and what the Bruins are willing to pay. In fact, Friedman talked about the idea that the Bruins might actually trade Swayman.
Friedman said:
“I had some people asking me, do you think the Bruins will pivot and consider trading Swayman, just give up and go? I haven’t spoken to Don Sweeney, he’s trying to keep a low profile, aside from making it clear that he’s not always happy with all of the reporting here, but my impressions are that the Bruins do not want to trade Swayman.”
He went on to add that having already traded Linus Ullmark, what the Bruins do not want to do is trade both goaltenders and he really believes that when they say they want to sign Swayman, they are telling the truth. “I believe that is their goal and trading him is not what they are considering or want to do.”
Friedman then joked, “Which of course means, two minutes after this podcast drops, there’s going to be a blockbuster.”
Swayman Talk Shows Just How Poorly Negotiations Have Gone
The fact that Friedman felt the need to even address trade rumors on the podcast suggests that contract negotiation talks are not going well. That is not good news for the Bruins, who the longer this stretches out, the more troubling this becomes.
When asked why Sweeney might have brought up the December 1 date as a deadline, Friedman didn’t think the GM was suggesting it would take that long. “I think what Sweeney was doing, he was sitting back there and was going to mention December 1 so that no other date or deadline can be used as leverage or a pressure point against us.”
