Jeremy Swayman has been one of the best goaltenders in the world over the past 15 months after the Boston Bruins might've experienced some buyer's remorse during the 2024-25 season. After his contract holdout before the season, Swayman struggled throughout the regular season, but then regained his form in Team USA's crease at the World Championship, leading them to a gold medal, had a Vezina-finalist performance the following season for the Bruins, and for a short time earned playtime for USA at the Olympics.
By all accounts, and according to the Vezina voting, Swayman is one of the top-three goaltenders in the NHL, and it feels like he is only going to get better. However, EA Sports may not be ready to give him that crown after one bounceback season, as they ranked him sixth in the overall ratings for goaltenders.
Hockey’s defensive and goaltending elite 🛡️
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95 OVR for Makar, Werenski and Hughes.
94 OVR for Vasilevskiy between the pipes 🥅
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Andrei Vasilevskiy and Ilya Sorokin were the finalists who stood next to Swayman in the Vezina voting, and it makes sense for them to be at the top of this list. Vasilevskiy also regained his dominant form this past season, while there was a time that Sorokin was in MVP conversations if the New York Islanders had managed to finish the job and make the playoffs.
Where Jeremy Swayman stands amongst the goalies in NHL 27
It would've been easy for EA Sports to put Swayman in third to reflect the Vezina voting, but that isn't exactly how the ratings work. If he does start the 2026-27 season in a similar way as he ended last season, there is a chance that the Bruins starter will be part of the ratings fix that the franchise does after their game launches. If he begins saving Boston's bacon every night again, the least that the ratings team could do is give him the 90 overall rating.
Igor Shesterkin and Logan Thompson are fine goaltenders in their own right, but it seems like the ratings reflected the raw stats more than the eyetest and advanced analytics. Swayman was so good last season because of stats like goals saved above expected, but Thompson and Shesterkin had better save percentages overall.
The good news for Bruins fans who need to use Swayman in the game is that their defense is going to be above average this season, and David Pastrnak is one of the best right wingers in the game for goal-scoring purposes.
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