Boston Bruins Planning Bold Goaltender Change for NHL Playoffs
The Boston Bruins haven’t clinched an NHL postseason berth yet but they are nearly guaranteed to do so in a matter of days, as MoneyPuck has the franchise locked as a playoffs team giving them a 100% probability of getting into them.
What isn’t so clear is who will be the goaltender defending their net when the postseason starts on April 22.
All season long, the Bruins have ridden a two-goalie rotation featuring both Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. The former got the first start of the campaign all the way back in October. The latter followed suit three days later. On and on the rotation went until Swayman, for the first time this season, started two consecutive games more than a month later for the 16th and 17th Bruins’ matchups of the year.
According to Stathead, Tuesday, March 19, marked the 14th consecutive game in which the Bruins have used Ullmark and Swayman on a rotational basis. That will most probably change ahead of the postseason according to the latest comments made by head coach Jim Montgomery.
“At some point, we might want to see someone play three games in a row. That’s kind of what we’ve discussed,” Montgomery told goaltending coach Bob Essensa of late as reported by Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic. “Let a guy go on a run and let the other guy go on a run, just to assimilate the demands of playing.”
Bruins GM Don Sweeney Wants to End 2-Goaltender Rotation in Stanley Cup Playoffs
As far as who will get the gig come playoff time, that’s going to be a hard decision to make by coach Montgomery.
Through Wednesday, March 20, Swayman boasts a 22-7 record with eight games going to OT. He’s posted a .917 save percentage and a 2.56 goals-against average. Ullmark, on the other side of the rotation, has a 19-7 record (seven OT games) with a .913 SV% and 2.64 GAA.
Bruins GM Don Sweeney gauged the market to move Ullmark ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, acknowledging Boston had “explored different situations.” With Ullmark staying in tow, either he couldn’t find one or Ullmark executed his no-trade clause (who nobody would confirm nor deny, including Sweeney).
The situation should put Swayman in a premium position as the leading candidate to defend the net in the playoffs, but nothing is guaranteed for now with just a month of regular-season play left.
Sweeney, however, mentioned Vegas Golden Knights’ goaltender Adin Hill’s role (15 consecutive starts) in last year’s championship run and Sergei Bobrovsky’s (18) run with the Florida Panthers as examples his franchise could follow this postseason.
“Adin Hill was the Stanley Cup goalie last year. He didn’t have [to deal with a rotation],” Sweeney said. “Bobrovsky, for that matter, didn’t start (the first two games) in the playoffs last year and took that team to the Stanley Cup Final.”
The Bruins, for what’s worth, lost to Bobrovsky’s Panthers in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Bruins Will Have to Handle 2 Goaltender Situations Next Summer
One of the main storylines to follow in the upcoming playoffs regarding Boston will be what the franchise decides to do next with his goaltender tandem.
Swayman signed a one-year, $3.475 million contract via arbitration hearing through the 2024 season, but he will enter restricted free agency this summer and he’s expected to command between $6.5 and $7 million on average annual salary while signing a deal spanning more than five seasons.
According to Shinzawa, “Swayman will not be prompt to accept a hometown discount,” following his arbitration case from last year. Swayman didn’t sound that happy about going through the process last summer.
Ullmark, as already mentioned, was involved in trade chatter right before the deadline at the start of March, and had he not blocked a trade to the Los Angeles Kings (as reports suggest he did) he would be playing hockey on the West Coast for the Kings these days.
It’s fair to assume Boston will try to trade Ullmark next summer as long as they can reach an extension agreement with Swayman to make him the starting goalie heading to the 2025 season, although Ullmark will still have the no-trade clause in his contract available for him to block any potential move he doesn’t like.
The market will feature a few buyers in the Ottawa Senators, the Chicago Blackhawks, and potentially the New Jersey Devils, but none of those franchises are locks to bid for Ullmark, let alone offer a package that interest the Bruins in exchange for their goaltender.
In any case, and for the time being, Montgomery simply said that the Bruins are “just building toward the playoffs,” while still riding two goaltenders on a steady, alternating rotation.
