BRIGHTON – While the Bruins got a head start on most of their spring cleaning roster chores by shipping out a bevy of veteran players at the March trade deadline, the big question now is whether there are any more surprises coming in the offseason.
It’s obvious David Pastrnak isn’t going anywhere after carrying the team in the second half of the season, and leading by example with exemplary play down the stretch for a hockey team going nowhere in a show of excellence that could make him the team’s next captain.
“I'm friends with [David Pastrnak] off the ice and you kind of see that he definitely leads more behind the scenes, and you see what he brings to the table, obviously, on the ice,” said Morgan Geekie. “But I mean, guys leaving, and all the change of face and that and the situation we were in, I think you saw that come out a lot. I'm sure you guys saw it a little bit more too, but it was great.
“Someone needs to take that step and I think he kind of did that, especially with Charlie [McAvoy] being out and Hampus [Lindholm]. I think that's something that we definitely didn't take for granted, I think, and he definitely was the leading charge towards the end of the year. Somebody's got to step up and being the longest tenured guy and our best player it's something that we definitely appreciate. I think you saw the growth in him as a leader, vocally, especially at that point.”
And McAvoy and Lindholm are the building blocks on the back end tied into long-term deals while also armed with full no-movement clauses. Also, Geekie should be the top priority in terms of retaining a current player after coming off a career 33-goal season while very visibly stepping up as well as a vocal leader in the Bruins dressing room.
Beyond that, Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm aren’t going anywhere either with full NMCs on their much-discussed contracts signed last summer, and with heavy motivation to bounce back strongly after mixed results in their first year as Bruins.
That leaves Jeremy Swayman as the highest-salaried player ($8.25 million per season) without full no-trade protection, his NMC doesn’t kick in until the start of the 2026-27 season, and still facing some massive questions to answer. To put it plainly, the 26-year-old Swayman is a big money, long-term player coming off a horrendous season after leveraging the Bruins into a deal he hadn’t really earned in terms of service time or his play on the ice.
What did Jeremy Swayman learn from this year? Let's hear what he says! Do you think he will bounce back next season? #NHL @WEEI pic.twitter.com/2qAGZGDbyt
— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) April 18, 2025
Predictably it didn’t end well this season and that has knowledgeable hockey people like Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman wondering if Swayman could be on the move based on this past season, perhaps based on the ugly contract negotiations and holdout last fall, and maybe even based on some potentially conflicting personalities inside the B’s room.
“I thought the whole Swayman thing blew up their season before it even got started and they were never able to get it on the rails,” said Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast over the weekend. “As you can tell, I’ve been talking to teams that are looking around for goaltending [and] I do think there are going to be teams that call the Bruins about Swayman. His no-move doesn’t kick in for another year. If I was them, I would say that this whole year went off the rails, put in a good summer and don’t do any interviews. Just [tell Swayman to] show up in great shape and be ready to go.
“Not everybody will look at It this way, but I do look at this as a lost year for Swayman and it doesn’t mean that it can’t be recovered. I would just say ‘Hey, just focus…there’s no contract talks. Just lock in and focus and be ready to be a great goalie, the goalie that you were a year ago and if he does that it solves a lot of your problems. To me, Swayman is the big question [with the Bruins]. Do you believe that with a summer of no distractions that he can get back [to his previous level?]. If he has a good summer the Bruins could fix a lot of what ails them.”
Should the Bruins entertain trading Swayman in a “now or never” scenario that they face with a player they’re tied into for seven more seasons?
It would obviously depend on what the Bruins could get in return for a depreciated asset coming off a bad season, and perhaps also hinge on just how deeply any perceived schisms exist between players in the Bruins dressing room. They would also have to be prepared to eat a ton of his remaining salary as well, or ship off a first-round pick to get somebody to take him at the absolute low point of his value.
In other words, it isn't likely that a trade would be worth it at this point.
The good news for the Bruins, and for Swayman, is that it sounds like the goalie is planning to stay in Boston, put the work in at the B’s facility around their staff and do exactly what brought him his past success in Black and Gold. The hope being that this past season’s struggles will make him a better player, and person, between the pipes for Boston in the long run.
“The learning that I had this year with the games played…that was awesome. And just getting to know my body, knowing where my mentals [are] at and wanting more and feeling really good is something that I can really build on,” said Swayman. “But I take accountability, I wanted to play better. I know that I can play better, and that's something that I can't wait to work on. And this team is going to be a lot different next year with what we learned from this year. We’ve got a lot to look forward to.
”Of course, [this season] is motivating. I think you're only as good as your last game, and that's how it should be. You have to live in the moment. We have guys in this locker room that are so good about, you know, making sure that they're playing their best one game at a time, one shift at a time, and that's something that I've held as a standard of mine. [It’s the] culture that we've set here is we have to win, and that's exactly what I want it to be. That's a testament to the amazing fans we have in Boston. I want to be a top, top goaltender in this league, and I know that I have the ability to do that. It's going to be a really good feeling to make sure that we're coming to work every day and earning that.”
That’s about what you would expect to hear from a goalie that flopped to a 3.12 goals against average and an .892 save percentage after posting career numbers of a 2.58 GAA and a .910 save percentage well above this past season clearly impacted by the holdout, and by the turmoil going on throughout the season.
Interestingly enough, there was a lot of talk during Bruins' breakup day about leadership and important voices within the Bruins dressing and the need for everybody to step up next season. There was almost universal mention of Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Pastrnak with every Bruins player that stepped up the microphones at the end-of-season press availability, and Zadorov was mentioned as well from most corners as somebody with influence and a strong voice.
“It's always tough when you lose guys of that caliber, like I said earlier, I think the culture itself maybe didn't change. I just think there was a little bit of shell shock,” said Morgan Geekie. “I guess when you trade your captain in that and those decisions were just tough decisions, and unfortunately, maybe had to be made, especially the position we're in. It always sucks when you're losing guys coming into the deadline, because normally that means you're not in the spot that you should be. It's tough having [Charlie McAvoy] and [Hampus Lindholm] out for most of the year too. I don't think there was a culture shift or change. It's just like one of those things.
“We had different guys step into roles that were filled by others, and [David Pastrnak] did a great job with that. And see [Charlie McAvoy] and [Hampus Lindholm], even though they weren't with us on the ice, we're a loud voice in the room when we had guys step up all throughout the locker room. So, it's just one of those things, you know, with time, things are going to change. They're going to have to change. And as unfortunate or fortunate as it is, I think that's what's going to happen. I like where we're trending. [David Pastrnak] and [Hampus Lindholm] and the guys I've mentioned before are great leaders. And are definitely going to take the reins and keep the culture the way it is and grow the way we need to grow.”
But that was a conspicuous area where Swayman really wasn’t mentioned at all by his fellow teammates, a phenomenon that probably has much to do with the goalie position that he plays away from a great deal of the action. But it might also reveal that Swayman has some work to do to rebuild the confidence in him as a goaltender, and a teammate, after everything went sideways this season starting with his holdout.
It would be surprising to see the Bruins deal Swayman unless it was an offer that Don Sweeney couldn’t refuse, but then again he did get more than a few of those at the NHL trade deadline with a team truly retooling for a rebound season.