BOSTON — Just three days after Jeremy Swayman inked a sizable contract extension earlier this week, former Boston Bruins teammate Linus Ullmark got a new, long-term deal, too.
Swayman got more money out of the two and many more years with his eight-year, $66 million agreement. However, Ullmark will make the same average annual value as Swayman at $8.25 million after receiving a four-year contract for $33 million.
There certainly was no animosity on Swayman’s part to see the AAV line up the way it did. Swayman wanted to reset the goalie market with his deal, and while he didn’t necessarily do that, by putting pen to paper, he possibly started a chain reaction with other goalie deals that happened this week.
Swayman was thrilled to see Ullmark get his new contract and had similar feelings for Seattle Kraken netminder Joey Daccord, who inked a five-year, $25 million deal on Wednesday.
“It’s incredible. It’s a goalie union,” Swayman said Thursday following Boston’s 6-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden. “We all know how hard it is to win games in this league and to see guys get rewarded that way, it’s just awesome to see. Both those guys work extremely hard and couldn’t be happier for them and their teams.”
Unlike Swayman, who was a restricted free agent this offseason and didn’t participate in training camp, Ullmark was in the final year of his four-year deal, which the Bruins initially gave him prior to the 2021-22 season.
But Ullmark didn’t have questions about his future hanging over his head for the entire season with the Senators taking care of him. The Swedish netminder rewarded Ottawa, too, in his debut with the franchise as he made 30 saves in a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
Swayman had an “emotional” return to the ice Thursday and got into a spat with a Canadiens star as well. He has some rust to knock off but he still did his part with a 20-save showing for the Bruins.
The only thing missing for Swayman and Ullmark was their celebratory goalie hug coming off the ice after a win.