Jeremy Swayman did everything he could to keep the Boston Bruins in the fight, turning away 21 of 22 shots. One unlucky redirect, and boom, Boston walked away with another frustrating loss, this time a 1-0 shutout against the Wild. And just like that, the blame game started. Some fans are coming for Swayman’s neck, calling out his contract, his missed training camp, and his inconsistency.
Others are pointing fingers at the team’s disappearing offense and shaky defense. Either way, as the Bruins cling to their playoff hopes, the heat on Swayman is only getting stronger.
The Bruins fell 1-0 to the Wild on Sunday in a game that felt like repeatedly running into a brick wall. The night’s only goal came midway through the second period when Frederick Gaudreau got a stick on Marcus Johansson’s shot, redirecting it past Jeremy Swayman—who had no chance on that one. Swayman still put up a solid performance with 21 saves, but it didn’t matter because, on the other end, Filip Gustavsson was a fortress, stopping all 28 shots Boston threw at him.
Adding to the Bruins’ struggles, they were without Brad Marchand, who was sidelined with an upper-body injury. His absence was painfully evident as Boston’s offense looked completely out of sync. Even David Pastrňák, who had been on fire, had his 17-game point streak snapped.
With the Bruins losing six of their last seven games, their grip on playoff positioning is slipping. It won’t matter how well their goalies play if they don’t figure out their scoring issues soon. Given the context, the loss is getting too much in the heads of the fans. And clans are going on fire on Reddit.
The ‘Swayman’ debate heats up
Now, here’s where things get spicy. The Bruins’ fanbase is at war with itself over Jeremy Swayman.
Some are slamming Jeremy Swayman for not living up to his massive contract, arguing that his offseason antics and missed training camp set the tone for a shaky season. A Reddit user writes, “While I agree that some of the criticism of Swayman is just low-level knuckledragging – you also have to acknowledge that he is NOT playing up to level, especially 8×8.25 mil level.” They argue that with his contract, he should be stealing games, and his absence in training camp hurt the team.
A fan argues that his $8.25 million per year deal was excessive, pointing to his missed training camp and media appearances as signs of selfishness, especially compared to past Bruins leaders who took pay cuts for the team’s benefit. They believe he hasn’t “stolen” games the way an elite goalie should and remains too streaky to handle a full 40+ game workload without a strong tandem partner—essentially labeling him an overpaid backup. Saying, which a fan notes, “The off-season antics. Parading himself on local podcasts and talking through his agent—like he was coming off a Stanley Cup win or multiple for that matter. Putting his ‘worth/value’ ahead of the team and missing camp—while leaders before him took pay cuts. He’s streaky, can’t carry a solid workload of 40+ games (still) without help from a true 1A—which he also does not have this season. Do you know what streaky goalies are in the league? Back-ups.”
On the flip side, plenty of fans call out the ridiculousness of putting it all on Swayman when the real issue is Boston’s overall team performance. The defense has been a mess, and the offense has gone missing, yet people act like swapping goalies would magically fix everything. One calls out the trolls, defending Jeremy for their low IQ, saying, “It is ASTOUNDING how much we are blaming Swayman for this season, like I know he hasn’t been the greatest but do you see the defense we have? And the offense is even worse! This subreddit is just an echo chamber of low IQ takes. This team is overall just terrible, and pinning the blame on one player of a TEAM SPORT is laughable.” That pretty much sums up that Swayman may not be at his best, but if the defense is leaving him out to dry and the offense isn’t producing, there’s only so much he can do.
A fan came in vouching for Swayman, saying, “Ever occur to you some people’s resentment towards Swayman isn’t so much the losing, it’s how he got so much money, we possibly lost a better goalie, he missed training camp, and hasn’t quite lived up to his expectations.” Swayman’s payday naturally raised expectations, and when you factor in Ullmark’s departure and the missed training camp, it’s understandable why some fans might feel frustrated. That said, even if he hasn’t entirely lived up to the hype, the team’s struggles make it hard to judge him in isolation. It’s a complicated situation; the truth is always somewhere in the middle.
While some fans either blame Swayman entirely or absolve him due to poor defense, a fan argues that both factors are at play, especially given Swayman’s status as a top-five paid goalie. The fan writes, “The number of people who can’t get their heads around that both things can be true: Our defense is a total mess this year, and our goaltending is below average. Given that Sway is the #5 highest paid goalie (or thereabouts) but has performed the way he has is clearly part of the problem.” The frustration extends beyond players to management, calling for the removal of Cam Neely and Don Sweeney in favor of a GM with a clear vision and a head coach who aligns with it.
It looks like frustration is an inevitable question amongst fans. But is the blame game for crowning Swayman completely worth it? Let us know in the comments.
The post Boston Clan Defends Bruins Goaltender Jeremy Swayman Amidst Unfair Trolling appeared first on EssentiallySports.