Going into the 2025-26 season, there were a handful of Boston Bruins players who needed to have a bounce back if they were going to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs after finishing tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Philadelphia Flyers the season before.
A bounce-back season is exactly what the former University of Maine standout had. He finished the season with a 31-18-4 record, a 2.71 goals-against average, and a .908 save percentage. He was the 14th goalie in franchise history with a 30-win season. Swayman was rewarded for his big season by being a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, which in the end went to Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders was the other finalist.
Vasi won the award in a runaway from Sorokin and Swayman, but despite not winning the award, Swayman proved that he was worth the contract he was given the year before, which carries an AAV of $8.25 million. On Sunday night, the NHL Network continued to release the top players at each position ahead of the upcoming season, and this week's position was goaltending, where they did a top-10. Where did Swayman finish?
Bruins Jeremy Swayman was ranked fifth in NHL Network's top goalies going into the 2026-27 season
Last season, to nobody's surprise, Swayman was not ranked in the top 10. However, given the bounce-back season he had this past season, it was hard to keep him out. He came in at No. 5 in the rankings going into the upcoming campaign.
Jeremy Swayman (@NHLBruins) makes his debut at #⃣5⃣ on NHL Network's Top 10 Goalies Right Now list! 🐻
— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) August 16, 2026
📺: #NHLTopPlayers on NHL Network pic.twitter.com/Ebz1qRt5l0
As good as a regular season, Swayman had, he was even better in the first round of the playoffs against the Buffalo Sabres. The series was extended to six games, and really, only because of Swayman. He had a 2.91 GAA and a.906 SV%. He was pulled after being hung out to dry in Game 4 at TD Garden and let his teammates have it going to the bench. They responded by winning Game 5 in overtime two nights later in Western New York, thanks to some big saves by Swayman.
This offseason, general manager Don Sweeney traded backup Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers, which opens the door for Michael DiPietro to be Swayman's backup this season. If the Black and Gold are going to get back into the postseason, another huge Swayman is going to be needed.
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