What Does Bruins, Jeremy Swayman Avoiding Arbitration Mean?

Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman opted against electing arbitration on Friday. Boston general manager Don Sweeney, having added time to think about his stance, allowed the organization's deadline (5 p.m. ET) to pass Saturday.

What does that mean?

Swayman is now eligible to receive an offer sheet from any team in the NHL.

If that sounds scary, you might be able to take solace in knowing it isn't.

The Bruins have made Swayman their top priority throughout the offseason, and by avoiding arbitration they've essentially given themselves an opportunity to negotiate in good faith with the 25-year-old on a long-term extension. Boston also probably isn't too worried about losing Swayman to an offer, as the only teams who can give him an average annual value north of $9 million are the Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Seattle Kraken and Nashville Predators, according to Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Don't expect him to be too interested in those clubs.

Swayman is expected to receive a significant raise from last season's $3.475 million cap hit, posting a 25-10-8 record, a .916 save percentage and 2.53 goals against average in 44 regular season games and guiding the Bruins to their first playoff series win in three seasons. Boston currently has between roughly $9.1 million and $11.45 million to work with, per to CapFriendly.

The B's will have to eventually agree to a deal, of course, as they open training camp on Sept. 18. It can be expected that both sides will wrap things up before then.