Bruins sign goaltender prospect Jeremy Swayman: What are expectations for promising netminder next year?

The Bruins’ prospect pipeline might be headlined by the likes of Jack Studnicka and Urho Vaakanainen, but don’t sleep on the amount of depth and potential acclimating between the pipes. 

The B’s added a major piece into the fold on Tuesday evening, as Maine goaltender Jeremy Swayman signed his entry-level deal with the organization after the Black Bears’ season came to an abrupt end due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

https://twitter.com/MaineIceHockey/status/1240016260479569920

Swayman, who was drafted by Boston in the fourth round (117th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft, has seen his stock soar since first arriving in Orono. The Anchorage, Alaska native was arguably the top netminder in the NCAA ranks this season — earning the Walter Brown Award on Tuesday as the top American-born Division 1 college hockey player in New England.

The Black Bears had a resurgent season in 2019-20, posting a record of 18-11-5. The play of Swayman in net held plenty of sway of said results, given that Maine relinquished 34.6 shots against per game — which ranked 56th out of the 60 D-1 teams in the country.

Despite facing such a high shot volume on a regular basis, Swayman stood tall in net, leading all Hockey East netminders with an absurd .939 save percentage to go along with a 2.07 goals-against average.

Swayman is also in the running for the Hockey East Player of the Year (announced Thursday) and will likely be a finalist for both the Hobey Baker Award (top collegiate player) and the Mike Richter Award (top collegiate goaltender).

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The continued development of Boston’s younger crop of netminders comes at a good time for the organization, considering that Jaroslav Halak is set to hit free agency this offseason and Tuukka Rask’s contract runs out the following year. 

Boston has benefited immensely from having Halak serve as 1B to Rask’s 1A over the last two seasons, allowing the club to keep Rask’s reps down ahead of the postseason. But if Halak is offered starting goalie pay out on the open market, the B’s might be in need of another backup next season. 

Despite his impressive numbers up in Orono, Swayman will need at least a season of development in the minors (if not more) before getting a legitimate shot at the NHL ranks. 

If anything, Swayman’s arrival should lead to some intense competition during training camp between him and other B’s prospects in Dan Vladar and Kyle Keyser. Vladar might be the next man up if Boston decides to look internally for Rask’s next backup. 

Despite a slow start in pro hockey due to injuries, Vladar was dominant this season for Providence before the AHL campaign was suspended — leading all AHL goalies with a 1.79 GAA and .936 save percentage. Kyle Keyser (limited to just seven games this season due to injury) will also likely be in that mix in 2020-21. 

Regardless of where the pieces ultimately fall, the addition of Swayman into the Bruins' organization is a major shot in the arm for a spot that might become a position of need for this club in short order.