The latest in the Jeremy Swayman negotiation soap opera had his head coach weighing in on the situation while taking part in the Bruins “Fan Fest” in Lewiston, Maine last weekend. The Maine fan gathering for the Bruins starring Jim Montgomery was just one of several put on by the Black and Gold throughout New England to get folks ready for the upcoming hockey season, and all were attended by players or officials from the B’s organization with Charlie Coyle holding things down in Plymouth and the trio of Mason Lohrei, Johnny Beecher and Matt Poitras visiting Lowell.
“Whatever we can do to give back and give [the fans] some cool events to go to in the summer, it’s a no-brainer,” said Lohrei to the assembled media in Lowell. “We have the best fan base in the world and that’s a big part of being a Boston Bruin.”
It’s all part of “100 Days of Hockey” that will culminate with the Bruins playing the Montreal Canadiens on the actual centennial anniversary of the Original Six organization, so there is still some cool centennial stuff planned for the start of this 2024-25 NHL season.
Montgomery said he spoke with his goaltender, and fellow University of Maine alum, just a couple of days ago at a Ray Bourque charity golf tournament and emphasized how important the leadership aspect is going to be for the 25-year-old goaltender. More importantly, the B’s bench boss said he wasn’t concerned at all about Swayman’s unresolved contract situation with the hockey month of September just around the corner.
.@NHLBruins head coach and former UMaine star Jim Montgomery was part of Bruins Fan Fest today in Lewiston.
— Joe Bailey (@joebaileysports) August 23, 2024
He was asked about Jeremy Swayman as the team works on new contract for the goalie pic.twitter.com/Q4ELgRl7m7
“Him and I had a great conversation about leading, becoming a leader as part of the Bruins,” said Montgomery to the media up in Maine. “I don’t have anything to do with the contract situation. That’s not part of my job detail. My job is my connection with the players, and how we’re going to be good this year. And I have no doubt Jeremy Swayman will be a Bruin at the start of camp, and we’ll be ready to go.”
It all speaks to the tricky position that the Bruins head coach is in counseling his player on next season’s outlook with Swayman taking sole possession of the goaltending responsibilities while also trying to largely steer out of the contract boondoggle.
Undoubtedly those comments from Montgomery, paired with Cam Neely’s bullish comments to WZLX from a few days ago that the Swayman contract will get done, are an encouraging sign that the Bruins organization is optimistic about the end result. But the fact remains that both Swayman and the Bruins appear to be far apart in contract negotiations with less than a month to go until the start of training camp, and just days away from the start of captain’s practices when players like Swayman are typically with the rest of the group getting ready for the upcoming hockey season.
If Swayman remains unsigned and absent from the upcoming captain’s practices, that will be the first sign that an unresolved contract situation is beginning to negatively impact the goalie’s preparation for the upcoming hockey season. And that is kind of a big deal for a player in Swayman that’s been a consistent presence around Warrior Ice Arena over the last few seasons as his profile has been elevated by his stellar performance.
ONE-TIMERS
*Count Charlie Coyle as a player who's going to be excited for the start of training camp and another season where he should have a pretty defined role with the Bruins as a second line center paired with captain Brad Marchand. Coyle was excited about the additions of new players like Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov and Mark Kastelic to the Black and Gold and what’s going to mean for the team’s depth, and their ability to play a gritty, hard and competitive game when the game gets tough this upcoming season.
Coyle may not be the No. 1 center used most in all situations like he was last season due to the Lindholm presence down the middle, but that’s actually a good thing meaning there are now multiple centers to win a big faceoff, get a defensive stop in the final minute or log heavy minutes on special teams this upcoming season.
“I used to be kind of a revolving door, like playing up and down the lineup — wing, center — even when I was in Minnesota [with the Wild],” said Coyle to Boston.com. “Here, I’ve kind of been a staple which has been good. I’ve been put in a spot, so it makes it a little easier to succeed and play well. But we’ll see what happens.
“Like I said, hopefully guys step up and someone takes the initiative. We’ve all got to make the team and earn your spot. That’s the mindset. So that’s how I go into camp, and I want to earn my spot out there, and however it works out, whatever the coaches think — I’m going to play to the best of my ability, whether it’s with Marchy and whoever else is there, and we’re going to do the best we can. That’s all you can ask for.”
*Besides chatting about Swayman, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was happy to be back in the great state of Maine for “Fan Fest” where the conversation eventually went back to the NCAA title that he won with the Black Bears back in 1993 while riding alongside Hockey Hall of Famer Paul Kariya.
“Anytime you win a championship – and it’s the third time I’ve crossed into Maine this summer – you always get the tingles,” said Montgomery. “My mind goes to [late Maine head coach] Shawn Walsh and Grant Standbrook, the greatest teacher I’ve ever been around and the plethora of talented players I was fortunate enough to be on lines with and be teammates of and win a national championship together.”