The contract dispute between the Boston Bruins and goaltender Jeremy Swayman escalated further on Monday after comments made by team president Cam Neely during Monday's season-opening press conference.
Neely implied that a $64 million contract offer had been extended to Swayman, and that he and his camp had yet to agree to those terms.
"I don't want to get into the weeds with what his ask is," Neely said Monday. "But I know that I have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now."
“I have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now.”
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) September 30, 2024
Cam Neely on Jeremy Swayman. pic.twitter.com/SgiD05PhCg
Swayman has been holding out of training camp as he continues to angle for a new deal. His agent fired back at Neely's remarks in a statement on Monday, in which he emphatically denied that the referenced $64 million had ever been offered to his client.
"Normally, I do not release statements or discuss negotiations through the media. However, in this case, I feel I need to defend my client. At today's press conference, $64 million was referenced. That was the first time that number was discussed in our negotiations. Prior to the press conference, no offer was made reaching that level," wrote Swayman's agent, Lewis Gross, on social media.
"We are extremely disappointed. This was not fair to Jeremy. We will take a few days to discuss where we go from here," he added.
Swayman was expected to take over as the Bruins' No. 1 goalie following the offseason trade that saw Linus Ullmark sent to the Ottawa Senators.
With Swayman holding out and away from the team, coach Jim Montgomery suggested that it would be Joonas Korpisalo–part of the return in the Ullmark trade–in the net during Boston's season opener on Oct. 8.
Swayman, 25, is entering his fifth NHL season, having spent his entire career with the Bruins. Last year, he appeared in 44 games and registered a .916 save percentage while surrendering an average of 2.53 goals per contest.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jeremy Swayman's Agent Denies Bruins Offered Goalie $64 Million.
