Jeremy Swayman's Contract Dispute Shows How Goalies Will Be Paid Moving Forward

The NHL's goaltending position is under scrutiny as the saga between Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins continues.

Swayman is looking to get paid as one of the top scorers in the NHL. As NHLRumors.com has written, it is looking at $8.5 million, which Connor Hellebuyck did in AAV. Unless we know what Hellebuyck is.

Jeremy Swayman and Igor Shesterkin Can Finally Get Their Fair Share NHL Goaltending

Hellebuyck has done it for a very long time. He went to the Conference Finals with the Winnipeg Jets and won two Vezina Trophies. Swayman has been with Linus Ullmark, now with the Ottawa Senators.

We've seen Swayman develop and become a premier NHL goaltender. Last season, he took the Bruins to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Bruins had the luxury of a two-goal lead. However, they saw potential in Swayman and chose to make a long-term deal with him and move away from Ullmark.

However, like every other team in the NHL, it seems the Bruins don't want to pay goaltenders based on potential but continue to bridge them and underpay and underestimate the position.

Who has more power: Jeremy Swayman or the Boston Bruins?

Jeremy Swayman is not looking to reset the goaltending market but he is looking for fair market compensation.

TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston was on Toronto Radio as part of a heated debate about why it seems like position player teams have no problem shelling out money for players who have played fewer games than Jeremy Swayman.

Writing for NHLRumors.com

Jeff O'Neill: “Can you relax? CJ says the players are asking more than 10?”

Chris Johnston: “I don't think it's past 10, but I think it's around Vasilevskiy, nine and a half.”

Jamie McLennan: “That's what McAvoy did right? McAvoy is nine and a half years old, 26 years old. But McAvoy found a bridge.”

O'Neill: “We're back to sample size with 132 games and Vasilevsky, sorry man, you don't get nine and a half.”

McLennan: “But Vasilevsky signed that agreement a long time ago. I think people should look at where the market is now, not where it was a year ago, two years ago. You are looking forward. You don't look back. That's what it really is.”

NHL Rumors: New York Rangers Have Salary Cap Issues Next Season

Johnston: “Another thing is to look at how many young players in the league played less than 100 games and got eight-year deals elsewhere. I mean, Dylan Guenther just got one in Utah. There were a few others.

And usually when those contracts are signed, we say, Oh, look they're buying all the contraptions. These players will get better. I mean, it's not done with goals very often. But I think Swayman is in a position to not realize that he has to wait to do a short-term deal before he gets that payday.”

McLennan: “What did PLD get? What did Pierre-Luc Dubois find?”

Bryan Hayes: “Eight and a half years. Of course. Why would you take a dime to Pierre-Luc Dubois, if you're Jeremy Swayman? That's what I'm saying.”

O'Neill: “I thought you were on top of him.”

Hayes: “I have to. You are my Baker Mayfield. i can't let it go”

McLennan: “You can make a case for guys with good contracts, guys you know, I feel like, when it comes down to it again, I'll fully admit that he's a goal hugger, that's just what the position is. worry about that. He is lucky to get $8 million.

We'll give a guy who has 35 goals or whatever, and who can play his position No problem. Nine, half past nine, no problem. And no one thinks twice about it, but the goalkeeper puts the boy's projects to be really good. And you, I know, “O” means 132 games, but at the end of the day Boston put their eggs in their basket.”

Have Boston Bruins Confused Jeremy Swayman's Contract Status?

O'Neill: “Noodles. You know what? It's a goal hugger idea. But nothing you said is wrong. It's totally true, just like other guys who make that kind of money. I just think when someone says here $64 million for 132 games played, I think it's crazy to say, No to that.”

McLennan: “You're right. You make a good point because we have all seen or heard the story of player X refusing that money, and then a year later, they play for a million.”

O'Neill: “Especially when he has Batman in his Robin by his side the whole time. It's like, you have to consider that, and you say, I'm not going to be on the island, but it's going to be the Swayman show, and I'm taking 64 million. I believe myself. I just think that if someone wants to put that money in the bank, put it in and move on.”

NHL Rumors: The NHL Expansion, and Jeremy Swayman's Current Status

The goaltending position in the NHL will continue to be despised. Jeremy Swayman and Igor Shesterkin, but more than that, Swayman will reset the goaltender market by paying for power. We already know what Shesterkin can be. Shesterkin will reshape the market in terms of AAV.

However, with the way things are going in Boston, teams, general managers, and hockey presidents across the league are realizing that they will have to start paying potential goaltenders.

The old way of thinking is to hit bridges and hit ground balls and that situation may be over, because of how Jeremy Swayman handled his business in Boston.