Jeremy Swayman is back in a familiar place, trying to prove that one rough stretch does not erase what he has already shown. The 27-year-old Bruins goalie entered the NHL in 2020-21 as the No. 3 option behind Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak, then posted a.945 save percentage. This time, after what he called the most complete season of his career, he finished at.908.
That drop comes at a moment when Boston needs answers fast. The Bruins are favored to lose to the Buffalo Sabres in Round 1, and coach Marco Sturm has been blunt about the league around them, saying players are getting better and more skilled, and that power play has become a big reason for the rise in goals.
Swayman’s own view of the numbers is less about panic than process. He said a big team stat is knowing where the puck is being delivered from and getting the first shot with clear vision. When that happens, he said, the results can follow, and he believes reaching his earlier save percentage was definitely doable with the right team.
That helps explain why Boston still talks about him as a foundation piece even after the dip. General manager Don Sweeney said Swayman has never given anybody a second thought over his confidence in himself and what his abilities are. The Bruins are asking that confidence to hold in a season where the margin for goalies is shrinking and every mistake feels easier to find.
The trend is not unique to Boston. Sturm said players are simply getting better, and the game is producing more goals, a mix of sharper shooters, faster power plays and the kind of details that turn a clean read into a scramble. For goalies, that leaves less room to hide and fewer chances to recover after the first shot is lost.
Swayman has already shown he can use a reset to his advantage. On April 4, Darren Raddysh scored the game-winning goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning by making him look human, a reminder that even the most confident goalie can be pulled into the same grind as everyone else. But he has also had a rebound moment before, and one of the clearest came away from Boston.
Andrew Peeke said he and Swayman got a call for an international reboot after a difficult prior season, and that going to the 2025 World Championship in Denmark and Sweden became a clean slate. On May 25, 2025, Team USA beat Switzerland in overtime to win gold, with Swayman starting on equal ground with Joey Daccord for the U.S. goaltending role. Peeke said it was a fresh start and that Swayman was able to check out of what was going on over here and put all his hopes into winning the gold medal there.
For Boston, that is the point now: the goalie who once posted a.945 save percentage can still be the one it needs, but the path back is harder in a league where the shots are cleaner, the power plays are better and the goals are piling up.