There were a lot of reasons why the Boston Bruins missed the postseason in 2024-25. Injuries were certainly part of the equation, as Charlie McAvoy missed every game after the 4 Nations Face-Off. But one disappointment was a carryover from a dramatic offseason storyline. The Bruins got a terrible season from goalie Jeremy Swayman after a contract dispute cost him valuable offseason time. He spoke with The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa about his mindset heading into a new season.
“I’m a completely different human being,” Swayman said, per Shinzawa. “That’s a testament to the experience I gained throughout my career to this point. I’m so grateful for that — the ups and downs of it all. Sitting here, Jeremy Swayman’s in a great spot. I’m really excited about that. To have that approach of creating a culture, creating my self-culture to be elite, hopefully it’ll bleed into this room and have guys follow that way.”
Swayman was elite in his first three full seasons with the Bruins. From 2021-24, he had a .916 save percentage and a 2.41 goals-against average. Those three seasons made the Bruins comfortable in moving on from Linus Ullmark and making Swayman the highly paid starter.
Swayman responded to that by allowing the most goals in the league, 176, with a .892 save percentage and 3.11 goals-against average. He says that having a training camp will be important to flushing that bad season.
“It’s an extremely important time of the year,” Swayman said. “If I didn’t have that experience, I probably wouldn’t understand the importance of it. It’s definitely allowed me to prepare a little bit differently come training camp time, and looking forward to it. It’s something I’ve really rallied behind, being in this locker room and (exuding) love to everyone. Because I missed them at this time of year last year.”
The Bruins open the season on October 8 against the Washington Capitals.
