On any NHL team, the most important factor for success is having a brick wall between the pipes. Goaltenders are often the headliners, and for good reason. The Blackhawks got a firsthand glimpse of that reality last season, with young netminder Arvid Soderblom being thrust into a role at the NHL level he clearly wasn’t ready for.
Because of how important they are, it becomes even more notable when one of the biggest stars at the position becomes available. Based on the events of the past few weeks in Boston, perhaps the biggest name of all could now be available – Jeremy Swayman.
After the Bruins appointed Swayman as their primary goaltender by trading Linus Ullmark in June, contract talks quickly stalled with Swayman declining to report to camp without a new deal. Just this week, there was a wild press conference in Boston in which the team’s GM, head coach and CEO all heavily implied that the offer on the table for him is 8x8M. Later that day, Swayman’s agent released a statement saying they had never been offered anything close to that, and that it “wasn’t fair to Jeremy.” There’s obviously extra speculation now that he’ll be moved somewhere soon.
On Wednesday, an article by Sportsnet speculated that a surprising team could be in the mix in the Swayman sweepstakes. Despite being in a solid situation between the pipes for now, there’s talk of the Blackhawks preparing to spend even bigger money at the position.
The article argues that if Chicago wants to bring in the 25-year-old goaltender, packaging Petr Mrazek (with retained salary) with Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore or Lukas Reichel could get the job done. It’s true that Swayman would be a big improvement over even today’s solid pairing. He even has a Chicago connection, having trained with top prospect Drew Commesso the past few summers.
However, Swayman having a relationship with one prospect doesn’t make him appealing enough for the Blackhawks to go after – not even close. For starters, Chicago is in no position to deal a top center who projects as a potential 2C behind Connor Bedard for the next several years. This is a team in desperate need of scoring talent beyond Bedard, and one that is super excited about its top prospects.
Even if the Blackhawks were to pry Swayman from the Bruins, they’re in no position to pay a goaltender what he’s asking for, especially not an 8×8 deal. Chicago has been great about keeping long-term cap flexibility in their signing and trades, and signing Swayman would throw all of that hard work away.
Finally, signing Swayman to a long-term deal would seriously hamper the development and opportunities for Commesso and Adam Gajan, two goalies the franchise is really excited about. Sure, Swayman is still young and would be around for a while, but those two wouldn’t see nearly as much action, and the Blackhawks already have plenty invested in them.
