Jeremy Swayman's agent fires back at Boston Bruins after false claim about contract negotiations

Jeremy Swayman's agent Lewis Gross just released a statement countering the one made by Cam Neely earlier this afternoon, creating new drama for the Boston Bruins.

Of course, the contract negotiations with Jeremy Swayman have been the leading cause of drama for the team already this offseason. Many fans have been growing increasingly anxious about the possibility that he does not sign as the regular season grows nearer. However, most assumed everything was under control when they traded Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Jonas Korpisalo and a 1st round draft pick. Now we know that that was never the case. Today, Bruins president of hockey operations Cam Neely made matters much worse when he made one specific comment about the situation. He said, "I have 64 million reasons why I'd be playing right now."

Swayman's agent, Lewis Gross, claims that the Bruins have never made such an offer. The implication here is that the Bruins have offered Swayman an eight-year deal with an average-annual-value of 8 million dollars. Gross says that number was new to him, and had not been mentioned in previous negotiations.

At this point in the season, the Bruins cannot afford to escalate the situation any further. The season opener for the Bruins is October 8th, effectively giving the team seven more days to reach an agreement. Even if they do sign a deal before opening night, Swayman will likely need some time to warm up to NHL action as well, further delaying his season debut.

As many fans have pointed out, the Bruins appear to have just shot themselves in the foot. Not only have they failed to secure Swayman long-term, but they also traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators. As a result, the team could be forced to rely on Jonas Korpisalo when the season begins, a situation the team should be doing everything they can to avoid. At this point though, that does seem to be the situation and the Bruins only have themselves to blame for it.

Will Swayman and the Bruins eventually come to an agreement? If they do, when will that come? First week of the regular season, a month in, just before the deadline to play in the season? What if Swayman feels disrespected and no longer wants to play for the team? Could he be traded in such a scenario? This is starting to develop into a full-on nightmare for the Bruins.

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