Barring a last-minute change, the Bruins look likely to start a training camp, dominated by goalie questions without their No. 1 guy.
Restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman’s status will be the biggest concern obviously, but who’ll begin the season as his backup will be almost as compelling.
Swayman remains unsigned ahead of training camp which starts Wednesday.
Both Swayman and various Bruins executives have expressed confidence that a long-term deal would happen. The Bruins were confident enough to trade Linus Ullmark in anticipation of coming to an agreement. But for now, the impasse remains as negotiations head to overtime.
It’s not unusual for restricted free-agent negotiations to go down to the wire. When they were restricted free agents in 2019, Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo both signed after camp had already begun.
This same drill is playing out in several NHL outposts. Red Wings restricted free agent Lucas Raymond signed on Monday. RFA defenseman Moritz Seider (Detroit) and Thomas Harley (Dallas) and forwards Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg), Dawson Mercer (New Jersey), remain unsigned.
Without Swayman, who was both an All-Star and outstanding in the playoffs last year, the Bruins would start camp with a likely goalie tandem of Joonas Korpisalo, who is coming off the worst season of his career and Brandon Bussi, who has never faced a shot in an NHL game.
When/if Swayman returns, those two will compete to be his backup. But there will be more issues in play than just who is doing a better job stopping the puck. The Bruins can’t send Bussi to Providence without exposing him to waivers. He’s not a lock to be claimed, but he’s an inexpensive goalie with upside. Sending him down would be a risk.
Korpisalo’s recent history and $3 million salary cap hit might make teams less likely to grab him if Boston moves him to the AHL. So he’d have to play really well to lock down a roster spot.
Of course, if Swayman isn’t signed in a month, both Korpisalo and Bussi could be on the roster on opening night at Florida.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery downplayed the impact if Swayman missed the start of camp.
“We lean towards, the way we play out camp, our veterans tend to play most in the last three games,” he said at Thursday’s Bruins Foundation Golf Tournament.
After going into the last two seasons knowing Swayman and Ullmark would be his tandem, Montgomery faces a different situation. He had a plan for evaluating the goaltending heading into the season. He thought Saturday’s Black & Gold gold exhibition in Providence and their extra exhibition against the Los Angeles Kings in Quebec City on Oct. 3 would both be valuable.
“We have two (additional) exhibition games. We have the scrimmage where we’ll get to see pretty much every goalie in camp,” he said. “Then we have the extra exhibition game. I think we’re going to have plenty of opportunities for every goalie to show us what he can do as a Bruin.”
The start of training camp likely adds to Swayman’s negotiating leverage. The Bruins built their roster with the belief that Swayman would be part of it.
Both sides have mostly avoided negotiating publicly.
On Saturday, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney told the Globe there was nothing to report.
“Kick it down the road,” Sweeney said. “We’ll talk next week.”
SportsNet Canada’s Elliotte Friedman reported it was “Quiet around Jeremy Swayman as everyone tries to bridge the philosophical differences.”
