Jeremy Swayman just cost the Dallas Stars millions of dollars

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Joshua Deeds
October 18, 2024 (9:04)

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There's nothing sweeter than victory, and Jeremy Swayman signed his new, $66 Million dollar deal with the Bruins, and Don Sweeney on October 6th, 2024.

Swayman and the Bruins were at a stalemate until Don Sweeney and Cam Neely dropped a figure in the news, which brought Lewis Gross and Swayman back to the table.

This led to the Bruins finally signing their #1 goalie, who fans thought at one point, would be out until December at the earliest.

But Don Sweeney and Jeremy Swayman got a deal done and coincidentally helped reset the goalie market for the NHL.

Swayman, and his former Vezina Trophy-winning teammate, Linus Ullmark both signed for the same price at $8.25 Million AAV.

This led to the signing of Jake Oettinger, who helped lead the Dallas Stars to two straight Western Conference finals.

A definite comparable to Swayman, and the Stars signed him for the same AAV of $8.25 Million, and a $66 Million deal.

Of course, NHL clubs would love to pay less than the market rate for goalies, and we all thought Igor Shesterkin would be the one to set the market rate, but after he rejected the Rangers' first offer, Swayman led the way.

The contract is set to make Oettinger one of the five most highly-paid goaltenders in the NHL in terms of average annual value starting next season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy will earn a league-high AAV of $9.5 million AAV, while the Winnipeg Jets' Connor Hellebuyck ranks second with an annual salary of $8.5 million. Oettinger will tie the former Bruins tandem of Saros and Ullmark and the New York Islanders' Ilya Sorokin for third place on the list.

The deal will allow Stars to avoid any conflict over Oettinger's next deal after watching the Bruins lose Swayman for the preseason amid contentious contract negotiations in Boston.

Rather than pushing negotiations to the brink, Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars forked over the cash and paid him what he's worth by market standards.