With 9 games left before playoffs, Jeremy Swayman is solidifying himself as Bruins' backup in net

Had everything gone according to plan this season, Bruce Cassidy likely wouldn't have had to divert much time to his club's goaltending situation, especially with the playoffs right around the corner.

Ideally, the Bruins would be ready to enter the postseason with their regular tandem in net intact in Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak — while the franchise's pair of young netminders in Jeremy Swayman and Dan Vladar would continue to earn valuable reps down in Providence.

But, of course, very little has gone according to plan in 2021 — especially in net.

Be it an upper-body injury to Rask that kept him out of action for more than a month or Halak entering COVID-19 protocols for two weeks, the Bruins have had to accelerate their youth movement in net far ahead of projections, with Swayman in particular dropped into a baptism by fire after just nine games of pro experience down in the AHL ranks.

Far from an ideal situation, to say the least. But in a stroke of good fortune, Cassidy might now just have a good problem on his hands.

Sure, the Bruins want to give Halak — limited to just 77 minutes of ice time since the start of April — some reps down the stretch before the postseason gets underway.

But at this point, you'd be hard-pressed to find a viable reason for Swayman to get bumped out of Boston's goalie rotation.



While Boston will roll with Rask come the postseason, it's getting harder and harder to ignore Swayman's contributions as a fresh-faced rookie. While there have been plenty of young netminders that have surged out of the gate at the outset of their NHL careers, Swayman has maintained his high level of play for seven games now — with the 22-year-old goalie posting a record of 5-2-0 with a .946 save percentage since getting pressed into service earlier this month.

Not only has Swayman stood tall against a high volume of shots, but he's been spectacular against high-danger scoring chances such as breakaways, odd-man rushes, deflections, rebounds and more attempts from Grade-A ice. Among the 70 goalies in the NHL that have logged at least 350 minutes of ice time this season, Swayman ranks first with a .915 save percentage on high-danger shots.

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And while Halak hasn't tanked his value by his own doing at all (9-6-3, .909 save percentage), the Bruins are not in the position to ease their veteran backup back into game action due to a variety of factors – be it the lack of games left on the regular-season docket, the need for Boston to keep piling on points with the Rangers lurking in the standings and, of course, Swayman's outstanding play.

"There's no doubt — he's the one that's sort of been pushed out a little," Cassidy said of Halak. "Now some of that was by circumstance, right? There was an injury to Tuukka and Jaro went into COVID. So an opportunity for others and Swayman's grabbed that. I mean, he's been excellent for us. Hard to find fault in any of his games, played real well. And if it was probably more in the middle of the year, we would be easier allow Jaro to find his game again. But we're limited now in how many games we have left. We had a number one (goalie) that, played one game in whatever it was — four or five weeks? So he's got to get his timing back.

"You've got another young kid that's played real well since he's been put in the net. So it's a good problem to have. Unfortunately for Jaro, like I said, he's the one that's probably losing out on an opportunity to get back in there. Doesn't mean he won't, but I guess what I'm telling you with your questions, there's no guarantee and I don't know when he'll get back in there right now. It's Tuukka tonight. And we're going to piece it together game by game. I think we only have a couple more back to backs. So that's obviously a situation where we're going to use two different goaltenders. But that's not until Jersey.

"So this week, we'll kind of see how Tuukka feels and knowing that Swayman has given us good starts, that right now, he's the next option. Unless (Bruins goaltending coach) Bob (Essensa) says, 'Hey, I think Jaro's there and he's ready. Let's get him in'. So that that's kind of the discussion we have and it's kind of day to day right now."

It's a tough break for Halak, no doubt. But at this juncture, the success of the team has to take precedent over the desire of the veteran to get back into the rotation. And right now, Swayman gives the Bruins the best chance to win, night in and night out.