2. Jeremy Swayman was overpaid
All off-season, the one topic hovering around the Bruins was the contract negotiations with goalie Jeremy Swayman. They entered camp without him and to compound matters, Sweeney traded Linus Ullmark back in June to the Ottawa Senators. Montgomery had to go through camp without Ullmark and Swayman while rolling out a Joonas Korpisalo and Brandon Bussi combo.
As the Bruins were getting ready to board a flight to South Florida in October for the season opener against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, Swayman and the club agreed on a contract. As expected, the former University of Maine standout struggled mightly to begin the season, but over the last month, he has rounded into form.
He is 12-10-3 on the season with a 3.05 GAA and a .887 SV%, but since the coaching change, he is 8-2-1 under Sacco and playing much better. After his slow start to the season, you knew that eventually he was going to turn things around and he has. Has he been perfect? No, and he would be the first to admit that he would like to have a few goals back, but it's different for both Swayman and Korpisalo when their teammates are playing better in front of them and staying out of the penalty box. Over time, he'll prove that he is worth $8.25 million a year and is the future between the pipes in Boston.