When You Disrespect An NHL ‘Superstar’ 

Great video. Love the deep dive. Would love a series about "Is it all defense or is your starter actually elite" for each team. I guess for the bad teams "is it your defense or does your starter just suck".

We'll take him here in Colorado - we'll throw in a new Subaru and a Whole Foods gift card, too.

Guy was keeping the bruins in games where they had 4 shots through two periods. He’s absolutely elite. It felt like at times we were swarming them and dude was just blanking everything we threw at him. Thankfully the Bruins just didn’t have the horses because if they did, he might have stolen that series against us. He’s a top 3 goaltender in my eyes.

The quality of videos on this channel are consistently excellent, and keep getting better. Never change!!!

Excellent video!! I have grown tired of all the emotional drama from fans regarding this situation. Your video sticks to facts, discusses nuance, and remains impartial, while still providing accurate and worthwhile information. Great job, Hockey Psychology.

If you factor in 44 minimum games played last season, Swayman was truly amongst the elite. I can't see an additional 11 games tanking him, the playoffs showed he's more than capable of being a 55+ starter. Just give him 8x8.5 and call it a day, he's the only chance they have at getting the cup for the foreseeable future.

Im conflicted cause as a Sens fan, If they dont sign him they could fall out of a playoff spot and that makes room for my team to hopefully sneak in.. but on the other hand, i have Swayman in my keeper pool 😂

Ullmark is laughing his ass off. They could of just payed him and traded Swayman for some solid pieces

Awesome video dude. Excellent analysis, as a former goalie and Bruins fan I appreciate seeing Swayman actually get some proper appreciation. He’s one of the best goalies in the league and unfortunately for the front office, he deserves every penny. Especially when you consider this is likely his main big contract based on how goalie primes usually work, so if he’s signing for 8 years he deserves proper compensation.

We don't really know if he's Rask 2.0. Seems to me that most goalies do really well in Boston, even ones that shouldn't.

Korpisalo's junior team is Karhu Kissat in Helsinki and is part of the HIFK family - meaning they are part of their farm team group. The HIFK teams are well-known for outstanding goalie development. There are now at least 4 Finnish NHL current goalies who worked within that group of goalie coaches around Janne Laine. This means Jonas has everything on the technical side to adjust and improve. I believe he is one of the most underrated goalies if he gets his mental side together. And especially with goalies - confidence goes a looooong way - see Ullmark...

Quality and in-depth discussion on the topic. I like how you looked at the situation from both Bostons and the goalie perspective. Cant believe the last video you put out was just 3 days ago. Awesome stuff.

To all Bruins fans: You're too used to players taking a hometown discount like Marchand and Bergeron did. That's not how the NHL runs anymore and they're a thing of the past. You pay players based on what they will do, not what they've done. What's more is Swayman is already proven anyway, another 10 starts is not going to change his numbers. If you want a goalie that averages .920 sv% in a league where scoring has gone up every year for a long time and looks like it's going to continue, YOU PAY FOR IT. Bruins fans who insist on lowballing Swayman are the most entitled, self-important fans in the entire league because you all think you should get elite NHL talent for well below market value. It's what you're used to. Not Swayman's fault Sweeney screwed up your cap and prioritized signing big name UFAs like Lindholm and Zadorov before securing his #1 goalie. He gained all the leverage he needed when Sweeney pulled the trigger on that Ullmark trade. That's a massive blunder by your GM, so stop trying to put it on your all-star goalie for demanding what he's worth.

If you look at Bob after he signed his contract in Florida after a Vezina campaign… people said “muh albatross contract” even though Robb Tallas is one of the best tendie coaches in the league. The panthers had 2 of the top 5 leaders in Turnovers on defense and Bob was hung out to dry heavy during the early part of the contract. Through Boughner, Q, and Bruno they were more focussed on an offensive style run & gun style and the defense wasn’t the focus which led to them struggling heavy. When PoMo came in with the defense first heavy forecheck system everything changed and Bob got back to form and finally getting his first cup.

Incredible video as always. I love that when I see a new video uploaded here, I can expect really compelling Hockey analysis while also continuing to teach me about the game (which I love having followed hockey my whole life, I always want to understand and get more.) Can't wait to watch your videos this season!

"Superstar" is a strong word.

Leaf's would love a great goalie like that at 9 million...way more affordable than their top players. Bruins have been so spoiled with cheap stars for too long.

Pay Goalies more money! Most underpaid positions in all professional sports. 🤬

Keep producing great content man. Love watching it. You deserve everything you’re getting

As a Bruins fan, this pisses me off. If guys like Marner and Nylander get paid as much as get paid, why not pay our great goaltender more. Swayman deserves it

I have not watched many games where Swayman plays, but the way you describe him reminds me a bit of Rask. Not flashy, but really really good basics.

If Sway leaves and goes to a contender, he'll win a Cup in the next 5 years. He's asking for a lot, but he's already proven a lot. I say pay the man

I love the people on Twitter calling him selfish and talking about taking team friendly deals. Like that's what they would do if they were in those shoes. They're not gonna sign if they think they're getting underpaid

I’m just getting into hockey… this is absolutely nuts! Not the fact that Swayman wants what he deserves, more importantly, what all the others in his position deserve. I’ve just never seen public contract negotiations be so crazy. Of course we see toxic post arbitration negotiations in the MLB all the time, but never on front street like this! Usually just he said, he said, stuff.

I'm a Habs fan and I'm so happy Boston fumbled this so bad lmao He deserves to get paid, cap goes up every season by a lot, no reason to pay him imo

ANY other good team in the NHL will gladly take Swayman and pay him 8x8 . Love the video .

I think he’s worth the big bucks for his hugs alone

The arguments for or against Swayman sitting out for a bigger contract is right down the middle. It truly is a recipe for right down the middle.

We’ve been lucky with elite goaltending in Boston for the past 20 years. Maybe it’s got something to do with the defensive system and goalie coach Bob Essensa. It will be interesting to see if Bussi or Korpisalo are good enough without Swayman, it could work out for Bruins’ Management leverage. But if their GAA average is 3 without Swayman, Swayman is gonna end up getting way more than 8x8.

Another absolute gem of a video!

Great video, your content is top shelf!

as a bruins fan, seeing how amazing swayman is makes me angry and sad he isn't signed yet.

As a cats fan, I’m so glad we have Bill Zito. Our contracts have been so good even when I’ve doubted his choices.

As a Bruins fan, I’m a little jealous of Ottawa’s goaltending situation.

Swayman went to high school in Colorado with me for a year. Would love to have him back!

Love the video as a goalie I always thought that your analyzing skills could help give me some pointers I would love to see more stuff like this

Superstar is a bit of a stretch, sample size is to small let's revisit this after a couple of hundred games

"This is Jeremy Swayman, he's the bruins superstar starting goalie." Factually no. He's never been a starter in his career. His numbers were virtually identical to Linus Ullmark the last three years who for some reason no one considers a superstar. So no. Let's stop that. This is Jeremy Swayman the Bruins former tandem goalie who wants to be a superstar starter. Now that we are more on the right track we can continue. This guy has never played 45 games in a season. He's never won a Vezina. He's never won a cup. He's never won a ConnSmythe. He's never won a gold medal. He was the second goalie on a Jennings trophy, and the second goalie on a presidents trophy winning team behind Ullmark. This goalie has a contract offer that would make him the 5th highest paid goalie of all time. What has he done that warrants that? Ullmark makes 5. Ullmark has hardware behind his name. This goalie wants to be the second highest paid active goalie in the league. He doesn't warrant being 5th he certainly doesn't warrant being 2nd. The Bruins initial offer was 4 years at 6.25 as a show me contract. That was a super fair deal. McAvoy's show me contract was 4 something and he was already playing top dman minutes. Pasta's show me contract was 6 and he was already a top line winger. Swayman is not a starter yet and he wants to be paid like the best couple of starts in the league. To me his comparables are guys like Demko, Oettinger, and Ullmark (especially given they literally played in front of the same team, for the same amount of games, and put up the same stats doing it) those guys all make 5 or less. Why does Swayman warrant 165% of that? Why did he think he is worth almost double?

Hes good but benefited a lot from Boston's defensive system. Same with Ullmark. It will be interesting to see what Ullmark does in Ottawa.

3 x 40 game seasons is not a superstar… he’s never been a clear number 1 goalie. He’s good and has the skills but not a superstar at this point in his career. The fact he mentions comparables in his ‘worth’ and thinking he should be with Price, Bob, Vasi etc is just ridiculous. He should be happy to be offered 8 x 8 and then have to prove his worth at 60 games as a clear number 1.

swayman is looking for vasilevskiy money but unfortunately doesn't have enough of a body of work (games played over past several sessons) to justify getting paid such.

Tom Brady, when he was offered a $10mil contract for 6 years was quoted as saying “If I can’t live off $60million dollars for the rest of my life, then there is a bigger problem.” Swagman is obviously a great goaltender, but his sample size is very small, and he was a #2 for most of his career (so far). I would argue the best way to get out of this dilemma is to give him a 1 or 2 year deal, give him the lions share of starts, and have him prove his worth then.

He isn't a super star, he's never played above 45 games lmao

Great in-depth look at this. Swayman is phenomenal and I don't think anyone can deny that but he has only played 132 games and never a full season always splitting it. I understand where he sees himself and his numbers do skew that direction but definitely I see where Boston is hesitant to drop the rumoured 10 on an unproven full year. That being said goalies also statistically do get underpaid comparative to other positions for equal stardom/skill. Considering they play the full 60 too. Curious to how this is going to go, I'd love to have them both in Ottawa but that's wishfully naive.

The Bruins didn't disrespect Swayman. Sway took the Bruins to arbitration. It is no secret that ALL arbitrations, players hear things you don't want to hear. He clearly has a grudge now and took things personally when it was just business. The season is starting, the players and management want him on the ice, and he's willing to sit out and demand more money instead of do "everything" he can do to help the team. I get wanting to get paid, Swayman is thinking of his family and himself, but $7.8/8 million AAV is great for a goalie who's never played more than 44 games in a season and has had no deep playoff runs. Diehard Bruin fan but I'm with Neely and Sweeney on this one.

Great video, the only thing that was not brought up about Korpisalo is that he has had issues in Columbus, LA, and Ottawa. So with Korpisalo it might not be be just his style or ability to play, there may be more to it.

As much as I love sway in boston(in-fact he and Linus made me actually like Boston in the first place) if they won’t pay him I really hope he goes somewhere else that will value him more. Like Ottawa maybe….i can dream right?

A hard position to be in. Swayman isn’t UFA until 2026 and considering the history with the Bruins should not seek to remain there. Boston would be foolish to try to keep him long term at this point. This is a situation where there will be a winner and loser: not mutual agreement. Either way I believe a trade is what would be best for the team and the player. That will not be easy either, though.

I saw something says he doesn't want it to end with the Bruins. Well then get in net, I hate it when players get money hungry. It could be worse Jeremy you could be a plumber.

Really liked him in the FACEOFF: Inside the NHL. Hopefully both sides get what they want.

Great video, keep them coming.

Goaltending is one of the hardest positions for teams to give large contracts because we've seen so many young goaltenders have a spectacular rise and fall, sometimes in the same season. How many goaltenders have we seen sign big money contracts with long term, only for them to lose the starting job that very same season? That's why Marc-Andre Fleury was left exposed for the Vegas expansion draft, and the Pens paid Vegas with other draft picks, for them to take Fleury off the Pens hands.

I wouldn’t use the word superstar! He is just an above average player.

I don't want to ruin the goalie market, what a joke. The truth is, he wants every penny he can get, even if it creates a team without depth. To act like this is fighting for his poor family is even a bigger joke. He can live a comfortable life on what he has made already. This is about ego, and his pay is how he measures his value. How many houses and cars does one man need ? Every dollar he gets takes away from others on his team.

Pay him 6x6 guaranteed, but increase his salary by an extra million for every year he performs above .920 and 50+ games. If he is as good as he is supposed to be, he walks away with a max 11mil/yr. salary and 51mil combined (8.5mil/avg. for the 6yrs). In 6 years 11mil will probably be the new norm for elite goalies. He still gets a minimum 36mil if he is just average. I think we need to put some pay by performance incentives into these things.

Fourpisalo living up to his name. Boston signs him or playoff hopes are dead

Awesome video with a great overview of the situation. But currently, don't the Bruins only have $8m in cap space? If Swayman wants 9+ he'll likely be skating elsewhere. Great goalie, but I can't see spending over 8.5 on his talents, imo.

As a bruins fan i don’t even know how to feel. Just sadness.

Guy with 130 games is hardly a superstar.

Calling a back up goalie a superstar without knowing how he’ll play as starter is the worst it’s like calling Martin Brodeur back up super stars or Patrick Roy

As a goalie myself as I too never understood why goalies always got the short stick in terms of pay. While l understand his logic, Swayman isn't worth what he's asking.

I really think this is all being blown out of proportion. Most of it by the fans and media.

Boston's management really didn't think this through. By trading Ullmark they basically told Swayman, his agent, and the league as a whole that Swayman is BETTER than a Vezina winning goalie... So yeah... They have no one to blame for this fiasco but themselves.

Great commentary! I can't think of a time when I have ever sided with the organization instead of the player. In this case though, I do believe management does have a point here. Swayman has a very small sample size, he's never played a full season as the #1. Sure it's easy to say "I'm sure he can do it", but can he? Usually you need to prove it first to get the big long term contract. I don't like seeing people automatically throw Sweeney under the bus. If you step back and look at it, I do think management does have a point. You have a goaltender with only 132 games played asking for record breaking contract. Neither side can save face at this point. Swayman better really hope the B's lose a lot of games by a lot of goals before Dec 1st.

It's a tough situation. On one hand, Sway proved he was the best when it mattered most last year in the playoffs. The fact that they lost was NOT on him. On the other hand, as a team, you can't have 1 guy hamstring you when you clearly made your choice by trading Linus. I think of Mac in this situation. He is without a doubt 1 of only 2 players in the league that can do the things he does. He could have held out for some massive amount of money and made the rest of the team suffer in the very near future ( not be able to pay Mikko or Cale), but he also understands to win in thus league, you need several stars, and they all need to play at an elite level. As bad as I want to see him in goal in Boston, I think Cam should just kick the can down the street. Just trade him and get a MASSIVE haul for him. It seems when looking at this club, they have no problem simply creating another goalie. They have some serious talent that they will have to pay in the next couple of years and I just don't see the Cap moving in any huge way. Go get em Cam!

can't believe the korpisalo downfall after Toronto made him look like the second coming of Patrick Roy in the bubble

Elite coverage of this situation Hockey Psych! You got a career in journalism if you weren’t so damn honest 😂

I haven’t heard anybody say it yet but isn’t it obvious that the main take away from this is that Boston screwed up badly when they traded Ulmark before they had Swayman locked up? It’s almost like they bought their own hype about him being a legacy Bruin goalie so much that they forgot to keep any leverage and assumed he would just play ball. Turns out he has other plans. But the truth is that we can’t pretend it’s offensive when the teams and the league both take a “it’s just business” approach.

How much does a goaltender's performance affect a team's total points? How valuable is having an elite goaltender compared to an average one? Jeremy Swayman recorded 25 wins in the regular season, while Alex Lyon (Detroit) secured 21. Both played the same number of games. Given that Boston is a much stronger team than Detroit, is it reasonable to argue that the 4 additional wins could potentially be attributed to Boston's overall team strength rather than just Swayman's individual performance? Not to say that it is, but is it really impossible? For context, Alex Lyon’s salary was $900,000 last season and will remain the same this season. In contrast, Swayman earned $3,475,000 and is now seeking more than double that amount. This isn't to suggest that Swayman isn't an elite goaltender-he certainly is. The question is: how much of an impact does an elite goaltender truly have, and how much is that worth to an organization?

considering every team would probably call themselves lucky to have sway, id say he deserves the respect

I think his comparable is Saros at most, but with less experience of heavy load and games

As a Habs fan I’m ok with this situation. It’s always a good idea to trade away a veznia winning goalie, then alienate his equally valuable replacement. Well done bruins management, well done.

If you’ve never been a full time starter, I have bad news for you…you aren’t a superstar

I’m all for goalies getting paid, but the hawks won in 2010 with niemi in net… Tough situation

Swayman is a beast, but you can't deny Bob Esssensa and Boston's goalie numbers over the years. They made a guy nicknamed 'redlight' good. More than likely Boston can find and/or make another goalie with the same/similar caliber as Jeremy. When your numbers are that good, it's almost more 'disrespectful' to the Boston franchise.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be anymore against swayman , he sounds like such a cry baby , your offered 8x8 for 130 games in the nhl is more than fair. This whole situation screams entitlement and to say “oh it’s for the goalies after me” oh shut up this is for you and that’s fine but don’t blame it on something else. Edit: dudes getting 8 mil to play a sport. Ridiculous to complain about another 1.5 mil

As a Bruins fan...they need to give him everything he wants

Oh please - you really think Boston wants another Carey Price situation?

Too bad they let Ullmark go 😂

The bruins may have a rough road, there's no one to blame but the upper office. 😢

cant ruin the goalie market like bowen did with the D market by giving seth jones 9million then nurse got 9million haha

I wish you dove into some actual comps and broke down if 8x8 is enough or not. Really compare Swayman to Saros etc.. Personally as a B's fan I think 8x8 is a very, very good deal for Swayman. I understand that he looks ready to be a top 5 goalie with a top 5 goalie workload but he hasn't done that yet. He hasn't gone far in the playoffs (not really his fault) or has he won a Vezina or something that his camp can point to and be like "see he's a superstar like Macavoy and Pasta he's earned 9.5m".

Bruins fan here, Swayman is not a superstar. He deserves 8mil at 8yrs and not a cent more. He's never won 30 games in a season and hasn't started more than 43 games. Him asking for more than 8mil will deprive another player of a job which makes it obvious he cares about fellow goalies around the league then his own team mates. Which is reason enough for me call off negotiations and dump him to a trash team in November, just out of spite. The only reason the Bruins dumped Ullmark is that they didn't anticipate him playing hard ball and now they have figure out who to pink slip so he gets a contract. I can't imagine Bruins players are a fan of Swayman rn.

🍿🍿🍿🍿Who wants some? I'm loving it!

Watch episode 3 of the Amazon Prime Show Faceoff featuring Swayman...it's pretty enlightening of his 1st arbitration. 🤔

132 games, never been voted ahead of his tandem partner in vezna. The man is asking for wayyy to much

So Sweeney just confirmed thier first offer was 6.2 for 4. Then neely publicly calls him out, no one should be pissed at sway man these guys are a nightmare with low people skills.

Sway says he wants to be a Bruin. A lot of other people may not like me for this, but I trust him that he wants to be a Bruin, so I have no doubt he will be signed in the coming weeks.

I love Sway, but how was he disrespected? He took the Bruins to arbitration last year and then has done nothing but gripe about the outcome ever since. His agent must have warned him how brutal arbitration can be. The Bruins could have taken him to arbitration this year, but didn't out of respect for Sway and knowing how much he hated the process last year. Then Sway goes on Spittin' Chiclets and starts process of airing things publicly. Additionally, it's likely that Sway's camp was the one leaking negotiations to Spittin' Chicklets and other sources. I can understand that tactic, but you can't do that and then clutch your pearls once the team takes things to the public arena as well. If the Bruins offered him somewhere close to an 8X8 deal, that would make him the 6th highest paid goalie in the league this year, and the only goalie on that list making more money than him who signed as an RFA was Vasilevskiy, who was arguably the best goalie in the league at that time. By all accounts Sway is the one pushing for an 8-year deal. If he's really concerned about maximizing his value he could have pushed for a bridge deal and then gone to the table as a UFA while there's a higher cap, but it sounds like he wants the best of both worlds. Lastly, Sway doesn't have as much leverage as he thinks. He's an RFA and any other team trying to sign him would need to give up a fair amount of draft capital, plus there are only 5 teams with 8M+ in cap space. If he doesn't sign he sits out and makes nothing.

He’s gonna stay just wait a few days

i wouldn't be surprised if its the agent that is holding out on both the franchise and the player, playing a super greasy middleman and letting tensions rise super high with the clock counting down. the dude probably didn't return his call for 3 weeks, according to swayman, because he called the agent who never told swayman. swayman probably didn't hear of that offer because again the agent is holding out. but that offer probably was made. the agent is the issue here IMO. im just wondering if it could be proven and if so, is there a legal battle that could ensue because of it from either/both sides

I am a weirdo but I fully believe you need to build your team from the net forward. Without a good goalie you aren’t going anywhere, I have no idea why players like bob and vasilevsky only make 10 when they are just as important as players like McDavid and Matthew’s for there teams.

this is good news for me as a red wings fan:)))))

Swayman is not a superstar goalie. That`s simply BS. He has never been a full starter, always had a strong partner, and is only 3 full years in the league with 132 gp. Boston has been a great place for goalies the last years. He`s a good goalie, but he played well behind a really good D. I`m excited to see Korpisalo providing similar stats to Swayman behind that team. Does that make him a superstar? If Boston put up 7,8m per year over 8 years that`s a great offer and i have no idea why they are even discussing any longer. Bruins FO made a mistake in trading Ulmark before having a contract with Swayman worked out. But i wouldn`t sign Swayman to a 9 or 10m deal, i even think above 8 is a stretch at this point.

superstar implies he had won more than a single playoff series.

Ulf Samuelson has been leaking Cam Neely's negotiating positions! Did I whine in Bruins right?

Before watching the video, I think Korpisalo is a stud. However, Swayman STEALS games! This is why my son will never be a goalie LMAO

BOSTON: They don't call the "Massholes" for nothing.

Nice analysis but it would have been helpful to hit on the cap space available. If Swayman gets the supposed 9.5 ask, it leaves the Bruins little to no room to acquire any possible help during the season . Puckpedia has the cap space at under 8 million with Korpisalo, Bussi and Patera now and capwages has it at ~8.6 with only Korpisalo and a slightly different lineup of skaters. They still have 1.33 million tied up for Mike Reilly. Also the Bruins could have tied up Swayman for 2 years at the $3.4xx bc of the arbitration but did 1 so he could renegotiate. Swayman chose the arbitration, now his feelings are hurt from it.

Honestly, 8x8 is actually a pretty good deal for someone who’s played as many games as he has. That being said, I’d love a 64 million dollar contract, but I’m not swayman! If he thinks he’s worth more, than he’s worth more. I don’t think it will end well with the bruins though. Even if they make a contract both sides agree with, there’s a massive wedge between the higher ups, the fans and hopefully not the players. I hope swayman just stays focused, and just keeps proving he’s worth what he thinks he is!