Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney explained why he traded Linus Ullmark before getting Jeremy Swayman signed.
Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney explained why he traded Linus Ullmark before getting Jeremy Swayman signed.
With the regular season just about here, Jeremy Swayman still does not have a new contract with the Boston Bruins. Things were not improved on this front yesterday (Sept. 30), either.
First, Bruins president Cam Neely insinuated to reporters that they have offered Swayman a $64 million contract.
Swayman's agent, Lewis Gross then released a statement of his own where he denied that the Bruins offered Swayman a $64 million deal.
With it looking like Swayman will not be available for the start of the season, many have criticized general manager Don Sweeney's decision to trade Linus Ullmark without having the Anchorage, Alaska native signed under contract first. While speaking to reporters yesterday, Sweeney provided some context on the matter:
"We made a decision to chart a course. Both goaltenders had asked to play 55 games. That's not possible if you're playing on the same team. So we decided to make a decision. We felt comfortable with Jeremy moving forward. We knew what the likelihood of a return was going to be in terms of the discussions I had around the league on Linus."
Sweeney also added:
"We made a very difficult decision because Linus had been an outstanding Bruin. And how we were building out our team. That's just the areas that we were going to target as a result of that. I don't regret that decision one bit in terms of the decision we made to move forward and attack some of the areas that we felt we could benefit from."
Sweeney certainly provided more context as to why he traded Ullmark this summer. While both goalies thrived in a tandem, it is clear that they each wanted the true starter role. Trading Ullmark also put the Bruins in a bit of a better spot financially to bring in other talent elsewhere.
However, with Swayman still unsigned and the Bruins set to enter the regular season with Joonas Korpisalo as their starter, there will naturally continue to be a lot of criticism about how this off-season was handled. If the Bruins can't agree to a new deal with Swayman and eventually lose their second elite goalie of the year, it would be disastrous for the Original Six club.
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