It is no understatement to call this a pivotal season in the NHL career of 26-year-old goaltender Jeremy Swayman.
The netminder is coming off his worst season in a Bruins uniform, an acrimonious training camp holdout that left a bad taste in the mouths of some fans with long memories, and enters a “new era” when the hockey club is going to need him to regain his elite form between the pipes this season.
The good news is that the forgettable portion of last season ended when he pitched shutout hockey at the IIHF World Championships while backstopping Team USA to its first gold medal at world’s in a long, long time, and that he’s had a long, healthy summer to train physically, get his mind right and be in the best place that he can be physically, emotionally and mentally headed into a massive season for him from a personal standpoint.
Swayman talked about all of this and more with the media this week after a Thursday captains’ practice at Warrior ice Arena and had an insightful answer when asked how different his mindset is from where it was a year ago when he was on the verge of a nasty holdout that ended up sitting him out of a full NHL training camp.
“I’m a completely different human being and that’s a testament to the experiences that I’ve gained in my career to this point,” said Swayman with the trademark smile on his face. “I’m so grateful for that, the ups and downs of it all. Sitting here right now, Jeremy Swayman is in a great spot and I’m excited about that.”
Sure, there’s always something a little amusing about a person referring to themselves in the third period, but with it was also a full admission that there are lessons to be learned from last season’s struggles, just as there are things to be learned from the high points like gold medals and All-Star game appearances.
The biggest lesson learned from last season was, perhaps, the importance of a full training camp to a young goaltender getting ready for the rigors of an 82-game season. There is no way to recreate the NHL speed and intensity, or the level of shots coming at you as a goalie in any other environment but an NHL camp.
Trying to jump in without a training camp was doubly difficult for a goalie like Swayman at 25 years old who hasn’t achieved grizzled veteran status yet, and one where he was entering the season as the unquestioned No. 1 goalie for the first time in his NHL career. Perhaps a 30-year-old goalie with 10 seasons under his belt would better know how to prepare for a season quickly as Swayman was forced to last October, and once that snowball of struggles started going downhill it was impossible to stop behind a team all of a sudden springing leaks defensively all over the ice.
Needless to say, Swayman has a different appreciation for training camp that can seem mundane and boring to NHL players these days who show up in camp in tip-top NHL shape.
“It’s an extremely important time of the year…if I didn’t have that experience, I probably wouldn’t understand the importance of it,” said Swayman of training camp. “So yeah, it’s definitely allowed me to prepare a little bit differently come training camp time and looking forward to it. It’s been a great summer for that alone. Just focusing on what I can improve on from my experience. … I was on the ice a lot.
“And that was something I was really looking forward to — just getting back to the rhythm of things. And right when I got back from [IIHF World Championships], it was pretty much a steady schedule on the ice and really working on my technique, my body, and making sure I’m in a great position, come right now, to be at the top of my game and competing. That’s something that I really rallied behind is being in this locker room and just [giving] love to everyone because I missed them at this time of year last year.”
Clearly Bruins fans have lowered their expectations for this coming season after last spring’s veteran player fire sale at the NHL trade deadline, and the subsequent collapse that saw them sink into the NHL Draft lottery as one of the league’s worst teams. And it’s just as apparent that players like Swayman have heard the chatter of lowered expectations for next season as even the Bruins trumpet this season as “a new era” of the Black and Gold.
But it has the players inside the B’s dressing room excited that maybe they can surprise some people and it has the ever-optimistic Swayman ready to open eyes as well.
“I think that we have an endless belief mindset, and that’s gotta be set from day one,” Swayman said when speaking to reporters at Warrior on Thursday. “We can’t go in the future [and] we can’t predict what’s gonna happen, but the thing is that we can control what we can control, right here, right now.
“How we’re practicing, how we’re training, and getting ourselves prepared for an NHL season. I’m gonna take it day by day, and I know that we all will, and when we find success, we are gonna roll with it.”
There is a lot to look forward to with the upcoming Olympics that Swayman is sure to be considered for, and with an overwhelming amount of improvement that could be had following a campaign that saw him post a career-worst .892 save percentage last season. And Swayman will need to be that good if the Bruins hope to threaten for a playoff spot with a team that admittedly isn’t going to lead the league in goals scored next season.
But it all starts with lessons learned from last season’s failures that should make him a better player and teammate in the long run, and perhaps even another veteran leader inside a Bruins dressing room that will be looking make a lot of changes to the way they do things this season.
ONE TIMERS
• While Hampus Lindholm wasn’t at the first couple of captains’ practices are Warrior Ice Arena this past week, there is no reason for worry about his absence while working to come back from kneecap injuries last season. Lindholm was still back in Europe taking part in the NHL media Europe event put on by the league as the Bruins representative, and is expected to arrive in Boston at some point this week with the first official day of B’s training camp on Sept. 17.
Hampus Lindholm of @NHLBruins joined @TheFourthPeriod & @DennisTFP at the NHL European Player Media Tour
— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) August 28, 2025
Full interview:
🎧:https://t.co/4qgZ8pnnnn pic.twitter.com/sOAmmwOmK4
• In the good news department, Marco Sturm indicated to the Boston Herald this week that he plans to keep the Bruins top line of Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak together at least to start the season. It makes perfect sense given the strong way that they finished off last season together, but it also gives the Bruins forward group something steady to rely on amidst a lot of turnover among the forwards.
It can be perilous to rely too much on that line’s prodigious production at the end of last season as there were a lot of meaningless games played late in the B’s regular season, but the chemistry was undeniable and gives the Black and Gold something to build on at the top of their lineup where they need the stability. Lindholm is the perfect defensive-minded forward to slot in the middle with Geekie and Pastrnak who will allow them to think offense first and leave Lindholm as the third man high in most situations.
*Speaking of Swayman, congrats to him on getting engaged this weekend as he gets ready to start focusing on preparation for the coming season.
Congrats to Jeremy Swayman and Alessandra on their engagement 💍
— Hannah (@babybergy37) September 6, 2025
📷 (IG:Alessandra Iacaboni) pic.twitter.com/xjfXkz4uKg