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As the Boston Bruins gear up for the offseason with players’ exit interviews held on Sunday, May 19, the franchise’s head coach and brass offered a final media availability of the season at TD Garden on May 22.
The foursome in the press room included CEO Charlie Jacobs, President Cam Neely, General Manager Don Sweeney, and head coach Jim Montgomery.
Sweeney had the most impactful comments, including touching on the future of the netminder rotation of the Bruins, which included Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark for the past few seasons.
Asked about Swayman’s future considering his pending free agency, Sweeney said it’s “a priority now” to re-sign the goalie.
“It’s clearly a priority, and Jeremy knows,” Sweeney told reporters on May 22. “He took us to arbitration, just for clarity’s sake. (…) Sometimes those things happen in the course of business, and it’s not an indication of whether or not we didn’t believe in Jeremy Swayman.
“It’s a priority now, it’ll continue to be a priority until we get that across the finish line. He’s a big part of our current team in the run that he went on in the playoffs and our future.”
Jeremy Swayman Signed, Linus Ullmark Traded?
After explicitly saying re-signing Swayman is the Bruins’ priority this offseason, Sweeney didn’t sound quite convinced about the future of Ullmark within the organization.
“We’re going to find a landing spot with Jeremy Swayman and if we can make the math work, we’re going to have the best tandem,” Sweeney said. “If we can’t, we’re going to explore.
“Linus may come to us and change his mind. That may occur as well. Right now, he’s really happy. We were very happy to sign Linus. And in a perfect world, we would keep the tandem. Because I think it’s damn good. But we’re going to explore opportunities.
“My phone’s going to ring. I’m going to make calls. That’s just what the job requires.”
Linus Ullmark Wants to Remain a Bruins Player
Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy award as the best NHL goalie last season. This year, Ullmark posted a 39-22-10 with a 2.57 GAA in the regular season. Ullmark, however, only started (and lost) one postseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 23.
The netminder is under contract for the 2024/25 season with a salary of $5 million coming his way next season, according to CapFriendly. Speaking to reporters on May 19, Ullmark said he wants to stay in Boston instead of getting traded before the 2025 season.
“Everybody’s been so nice and so very caring, lovable,” Ullmark said of Boston and the organization, via NESN. “That makes you feel at home. That makes you want to stay there.”
Although Sweeney praised both goalies in his final press conference of the season, it’s fair to assume Boston will try to move Ullmark to open some cap space to strengthen other positions of need.
“Our goaltending is arguably one of the best tandems in the National Hockey League. And, they proved that during the course of the season,” Sweeney said. “They put us in a situation most nights to have an opportunity to win.”
Swayman will probably double his current $3.475 million salary. Combining that figure with Ullmark’s salary the Bruins would pay between $12 and $14 million for two players at the same position with only one playing nightly.
Sweeney’s admission of “exploring opportunities,” admitting his phone “is going to ring” and that he “is going to make calls, that’s just what the job requires,” sent a clear writing-on-the-wall message to Ullmark for what could happen through the 2024 summer.
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