Bruins GM Don Sweeney Calls Out Barstool's "Spitting Up On Yourself" Podcast For Their Inaccuracies Of Jeremy Swayman's Contract Negotiatons

The beauty of Barstool Sports is that every day is a new day and no two days are the same. That being said, I did not expect to wake up this morning and think the GM of my favorite hockey team on the planet would be beefing with my co-workers but here we are! Jeremy Swayman STILL hasn't been signed by said Boston Bruins and Don Sweeney spoke with the media on the opening of training camp to talk about his 'disappointment' but shares his optimism that Swayman will be signed by December 1st...

It's not great that Don Sweeney hasn't been able to sign their No. 1 goalie, even after he dealt Linus Ullmark on *checks notes* June 24th. Feels like that should've been something that followed immediately after dealing Ullmark (for a measly return), or maybe during the year so it wouldn't get to this point, but I digress...

Let's back up to a year prior, Swayman was awarded a one year deal (it could've been two but the Bruins opted for 1) at 3.475 million after arbitration. He spoke extensively about how difficult arbitration was, because essentially it's your employer shitting on you telling you you're worthless because they want the arbiter to work in their favor. It's not easy for a player to go through, and it seems like theres still some resentment there because of it. The Bruins unfortunately were strapped by the cap and hoped it wouldn't effect contract negotiations the following year. Well, Swayman balled out all year but especially in the playoffs, giving him reason to ask for the moon come July 1.

And here we are, on September 18th, the first day of camp (although they don't get on the ice until tomorrow), and your number 1 goalie is not signed. It does take two to tango... Swayman's agent Lewis Gross is trying to get the best deal for his client and Sweeney is trying not to handcuff the team. It's frustrating all around that a deal hasn't been done and Sweeney's comments today are representative of that. From the jump, Sweeney has kept negotiations between him and Swayman close to the vest, and speculation has run a bit rampant. I've seen reports saying that Swayman's camp wants 10 mil a year and then you have the Whit Dog's source saying that the Bruins are offering 6.2.

Swayman has made a few public remarks admist negotiations, most notably on a podcast with Marc Lewis where he said "I understand the cap is going up and where it will be in years. I understand my comparables and how I can’t ruin the goalie market for guys that are gonna be in my shoes down the line..."

Spoiler alert: the man wants his money… and last year's stats should help Swayman see a sizable pay increase, even if he hasn't been a "true number 1 goalie" in season yet as the cap is expected to continue to raise. They traded Ullmark to make more room and effectively made Swayman the guy. It's not Swayman's fault he'd like to be paid like it. I'll never fault a player for trying to get their bag.

So when Whit talked about a source on Chiclets early in September saying the Bruins offered Swayman as low as a 6.2M deal over 4 years, it was pretty shocking. Whit then followed it up by saying Sweeney hadn't returned Swayman's calls in 3 weeks. That's even more concerning, but again, all these things should be taken with a grain of salt.

And that leads us to today. Sweeney vehemently denied Whit's source's accusations…

 "It's been reported we've been incommunicative. That's far from the truth… I think you'd be hard pressed to find anybody in the league where I'd spend three weeks not returning a phone call… I'm not talking specifics. You're just not going to get them. I think it's bullshit that somebody says I wouldn't return a call for three weeks. That's inaccurate."

He followed up saying his son loves Biz but that Biz is a "great entertainer", but at the end of the day, "it's inaccurate" and that it's "part of the business nowadays"… "it's okay if you turn around and say it's your opinion, or your belief as such, but don't report it as fact."

So TDLR: Sweeney is mad at the Rumor Boys, Swayman still isn't signed, but hey at least Don's optimistic he'll get it done by December 1st!

Like I said earlier, I didn't see a Chiclets vs. Don Sweeney rivalry happening today but that's the beauty of this world. Now, I don't think Sweeney should give two fucks about what Chiclets says, and should maybe put all of his energy on signing his stud goalie, but that may be just me. 

Two things can be true, Sweeney can be playing hardball and Swayman's agent can be an asshole right back to him after everything that's happened. The Bruins lost their leverage when they dealt Ullmark, but Swayman has little to no leverage as well since he is a restricted free agent. I think everyone should suck it up and find some common ground for the sake of all of us because the discourse all summer long has been suffocating. Swayman wants to be here long-term, the Bruins want that as well. 

We've seen this type of holdout happen before with Pastrnak (signed on the first day of camp), McAvoy (signed on the third day of camp) and even Carlo (signed on the sixth day of camp). Darren Dreger reported yesterday that a long term deal is still being worked on and that there's "positive vibes" it'll happen. Let's hope! I've said from the jump I think 8 years x 8 million per makes everyone happy but now I wonder if a 3 or 4 year bridge deal is more likely to be on the horizon after everything that has transpired.

Time to get something DONe, otherwise Joonas Korpisalo and Brandon Bussi are your goalies this year.