At this point, it’s incredibly difficult to deny that there are some kind of issues brewing in the Boston Bruins dressing room.
That’s clear by the won-loss record alone this season, although a big lack of success and underachievement on the ice can exacerbate things that are even just a little shaky off the ice. And it’s also to be determined as to how deep-seated things are for a hockey club that actually entered this dumpster fire of a hockey season with the kind of dressing room culture that was considered the envy of the rest of the NHL.
That kind of thing can change pretty rapidly when the results are no longer there on the ice, and when there’s a vacuum in the leadership created by so many established, respected veteran players getting moved at the trade deadline.
There is one remaining player in Boston who appears to be in the middle of a whole bunch of problematic things that have happened this season, and that is embattled goaltender Jeremy Swayman. On the ice Swayman is sporting a brutal .863 save percentage since the NHL trade deadline, and truth be told has been subpar for most of the season.
His season-long .892 save percentage is 31st out of 35 NHL goalies with at least 30 games played this season. That is a far cry from the Swayman who dominated in last spring’s Stanley Cup playoffs and bulldogged his way into a long-term $64 million contract while holding out during training camp.
And Swayman is keenly aware of that at this point.
“I want to give this team a chance to win every night, and I haven't done that the last two games,” said Swayman. “So, that's something that I'm going to work on. I'm not giving up. I'm keeping my chin up. I'm not getting the results right now, but I owe these guys better. I owe a hell of a lot of people a lot better. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.”
With that in mind, it might be time to dial back some of the bravado and outspokenness from the Bruins goaltender until the pace of his puck-stopping gets back to its previously high level.
There have been goals in just about every recent game that it feels like Swayman should have stopped, and a lot of the fancy stats back up that this has been a season-long malady for him. Couple that with the training camp holdout that played a big role in submarining the beginning of this season for the entire Black and Gold group, and Swayman has a lot that he’s going to need to bounce back from next season.
There had been times this season when it felt like Marchand was simply keeping it real mentioning that every mistake ended up in the back of the net, which is certainly a reflection of Boston ranking 25th in the NHL in save percentage (.893) this season after finishing third with a .915 save percentage last season shared by Swayman and Linus Ullmark.
Some might have painted that as Marchand being too demanding or hard as a team leader, but it was accurately depicting a goaltending situation that’s been a problem all year long. The B’s captain memorably wouldn’t cut Swayman slack back in December when asked if the Bruins felt bad for their goalie being on the ice for all eight goals in an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets.
“Not really,” said Marchand after that loss. “Everyone had a bad night. He was part of it. He's not singled out. I don't think anyone can look themselves in the mirror and say that they had a good game. So, he's part of the group. He's part of the bad loss.”
The most recent boiling point arrived in Los Angeles earlier this week when Swayman gave up seven goals and made a show of challenging Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper to a fight at center ice during the second period. Swayman was reacting to Kuemper messing with Marat Khusnutdinov in the LA crease, and the two goalies very nearly came to blows before the on-ice officials disappointingly stepped in between the two willing goalie combatants.
Just let the goalies fight, for goodness sakes pic.twitter.com/NZ8wAp9uLh
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) March 24, 2025
It was not the first time this season that Swayman has been aggressively looking to challenge his goalie counterpart, though it was probably the closest he came to an actual goalie fight.
Swayman said afterward that he was standing up for his teammates and trying to have their back, but it was very telling that both Nikita Zadorov and Joe Sacco didn’t really endorse their goalie’s histrionic actions after the game.
“Is that what it is?” asked Zadorov, when asked about Swayman standing up for a teammate. “I don’t know. No comment.”
“Did you guys appreciate that Jeremy stuck up for Khusnutdinov?”
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 24, 2025
“Is that what it is?” No comment.”
Nikita Zadorov got asked about Swayman’s near-fight. pic.twitter.com/xqjeWZZf60
It fuels a very real perception that Swayman was more interested in getting himself on tape waging a goalie fight rather than simply standing up for a teammate, an action that would be markedly more self-interested than selfless. Andrew Raycroft said as much when asked about it on WEEI this week in an opinion that wouldn’t be surprising if it’s shared by others within the Bruins organization.
“It can’t be to stand up for your teammates,” said Raycroft on his Morning Bru podcast with Billy Jaffe. “I’ve been around hockey a really, really, really long time at this point now. I played the position. And I know for an absolute fact that not one of those forwards that I’ve ever played with looked to me to stand up for my teammates. You can’t convince me that any goalie has ever thought that, ever, in the history of hockey.
“You don’t go after the other goalie to set the tone. It’s just not what it is. So, you hear that answer [from Swayman], that’s what he said it is. But I have to imagine it’s more just to put it on tape and say he did it.”
Is Swayman still a 'foundation rock' for the franchise? Bruins legend Mike Milbury joins and weighs in on Swayman, Zadorov, etc.! #NHL @WEEI pic.twitter.com/gu2tF94DKE
— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) March 26, 2025
Zadorov’s comments led to a firestorm of discussion and speculation about the Bruins dressing room, and whether this was clear evidence of fractures developing between players. The outspoken Zadorov addressed those questions a day later in Anaheim and clarified his comments, though a lot of it sounded like the kind of backpedaling that any good NHL defenseman has perfected at this point in their career.
“When you ask a question like [that] after a 7-2 loss, the players are frustrated,” said Zadorov to reporters during an off day in Anaheim. “Obviously, at the time, I was frustrated. Whatever I said — it wasn’t towards Sway. I didn’t expect that question from you — you’ve got to understand the situation we’re at. You’re pissed after the game.
“I was basically saying, try to stay away from finding positives, there were a lot of negatives in our game. Obviously, we appreciate guys in the room stepping in for each other. That’s the culture that was here before I came here and I’m trying to follow it. Anybody who is here while I’m here is gonna step up for each other. That’s the main part for us.”
🎥 Nikita Zadorov met with the media following #NHLBruins practice on Tuesday afternoon at Honda Center in Anaheim: pic.twitter.com/tKryR5602p
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 25, 2025
At points, it honestly sounded like Zadorov was repeating bullet points from a conversation he probably had with somebody in the Bruins organization prior to chatting with the media.
“It wasn’t even thinking it was a comment towards Sway or anything like this,” said Zadorov, who will miss the Wednesday night game in Anaheim while attending to a family matter in Boston. “It was just taken out of context. He’s a huge part of our team.
“He’s signed for the next eight years. I’m here for the next five years. We’re gonna be together for a long time and gonna be a lot of success with this team and back in playoff hockey and hopefully win the Cup here. That’s where we’re gonna leave it.”
The truth is that there’s probably some level of discord in the Bruins dressing room at the end of a frustrating, losing season where everybody is competitive. There is also probably some genuine discontent with Swayman based on his protracted, ugly holdout being followed by a very underwhelming performance this season that has played a major role in Boston finishing way, way under expectations.
The bottom line, though, is that both Zadorov and Swayman aren’t going anywhere after the Bruins practically traded everybody else off the roster earlier this month, so everybody is going to be need be better on and off the ice if things are going to improve. If not then look out below as the B’s continue to sink deeper into the standings with the vultures circling overhead ready to pick apart a hockey team mostly beyond reproach as one of the NHL’s best for a good, long time prior to this point.