Jeremy Swayman is back in the NHL’s top tier, and the Bruins are going to ask plenty of him again.
NHL Network slotted the Boston goalie fifth in its annual “Top 10 Goalies Right Now” ranking, putting him behind only Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and the New York pair of Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin as the league heads toward the 2026-27 season.
That’s a pretty sharp turn from where the conversation sat a year ago. Swayman entered the 2025-26 season carrying the weight of Boston’s decision to make him the clear No. 1 after he signed an eight-year, $66 million contract, and his first year under that deal went sideways. He finished 2024-25 at 22-27-9, and the Bruins missed the playoffs.
Then came the response.
Swayman put together the strongest statistical season of his career, going 31-18-4 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in 55 appearances. His 31 wins were a personal best, and they helped push Boston back into the Stanley Cup playoffs with the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card berth.
The numbers behind the rebound tell the story even better. He gave up two goals or fewer in 31 games, piled up 1,426 saves - the fifth-most in the NHL - and led all league goaltenders with 38 starts of at least a .900 save percentage, according to NHL.com.
That run earned Swayman his first Vezina Trophy nomination. He finished third in the voting behind Vasilevskiy and Sorokin. Boston’s postseason ended in a six-game first-round loss to the Buffalo Sabres, but Swayman was steady there too, finishing with a .906 save percentage while playing every minute of the series.
The Bruins’ summer moves only reinforce how much they’ll lean on him. Joonas Korpisalo was traded to the New York Rangers earlier this summer, leaving Michael DiPietro as the likely backup.
DiPietro won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s top goaltender last season, but his NHL resume is still thin. That leaves Swayman in line for another heavy workload.
And Boston will need him to keep it going. The Bruins are counting on last season to be more than a one-year bounce-back.
Swayman’s career body of work backs up the ranking. The 27-year-old has a 132-80-26 record with a 2.61 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and 18 shutouts. He has also posted at least 20 wins in five straight seasons.
NHL Network’s list also showed the company Swayman is keeping. Logan Thompson of the Washington Capitals came in sixth, followed by Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars, Dan Vladar of the Philadelphia Flyers, Jesper Wallstedt of the Minnesota Wild and Jakub Dobes of the Montreal Canadiens.
At the top, Vasilevskiy claimed No. 1 after winning his second Vezina Trophy, with Hellebuyck, Shesterkin and Sorokin next in line before Swayman.
He wasn’t the only Bruins player to show up on NHL Network’s summer rankings, either. David Pastrnak checked in second among wings, and Charlie McAvoy landed 11th among defensemen.
So Boston has three players recognized at three premium positions. The problem, as the Bruins learned in their first-round exit, is turning that talent into a longer playoff run. Goaltending alone won’t solve everything.
Still, having the league’s fifth-ranked goalie is a strong place to start. After a season spent proving he could handle the No. 1 job, Swayman enters the new year with his reputation restored and the expectations turned back up.
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