This was not the season anyone envisioned for Jeremy Swayman, least of all the goalie himself.
After a protracted contract stalemate that eventually produced an eight-year, $66 million contract but cost him all of training camp, Swayman posted the worst numbers of his career. In 58 games, he went 22–29-7 with a save percentage of .892 and goals against average of 3.11.
Just how much of a factor the missed camp was in his struggles is anyone’s guess, but it didn’t help.
“I think we’re allowed to talk about that. We’re allowed to make that apparent,” said Swayman of the missed camp. “But it’s a long season. And one thing I really want to be is a guy and a goalie who can really stay in the moment and really focus on the here and now and not let the past stuff affect my present. I think moving forward, I can’t wait to be a part of training camp and use it an extremely valuable piece to start a season and having compete and getting to know the guys right before the season starts and setting the standard. I can’t wait to be a part of it again.”
Despite his troubles, Swayman maintained his preternatural positive vibe in speaking with reporters on Thursday on locker clean-out day. Though his play didn’t hold up well with the increased games played, Swayman was pleased that he felt his body did.
“That was awesome. I’m just getting to know my body and wanting more and feeling really good is something I can build on,” said Swayman. “But I take accountability. I wanted to play better. I know that I can play better and that’s something that I can’t wait to work on. This team is going to be a lot different next year with what we learned this year and we have a lot to look forward to.”
Swayman said he wasn’t affected by the pressure that comes with a big contract.
“I think it just brought opportunity. I’m grateful that management believed in me and put me in this position. What I learned this year is going to be beneficial for a lot of years to come,” he said.
It was clear that trouble was brewing early, both for Swayman and the team in general. The team had gotten off to blazing hot starts in Jim Montgomery’s first two years. This year, they stumbled badly out of the gate and never really got right before Montgomery was given the ax in November.
That made Swayman’s ‘staying in the moment” mantra more difficult to achieve.
“We’ve had a lot of success out of the gate in the past. Having this adversity is probably good for us, especially the core guys who have seen success right out of the gate and how we attained it,” said Swayman. “That wasn’t met this year, so we need to go back to our roots and understand how important it is to start a season. It’s hard to win in this league and it’s hard to win when you’re trailing. That’s something we’re going to implement big time come training camp time. I know every guy in this room is going to take their summer very seriously and come with a new attitude of winning hockey.”…
Hampus Lindhholm expects to get back on the ice by mid-May. He had fractured a bone his knee blocking a shot on November 12 and said he pushed too hard too soon in his comeback attempt before he suffered a setback that caused him to be shutdown for the season.
He expects to be ready to go for training camp.
“I had some luck within the bad luck when I fractured me knee. Everything stayed intact, so there are no long-term worries for my injury. That kind of led to coming back a little too early, pushing it a little too hard on the ice a little too early, which made me take some step-backs. They had to go back in a reassess it and take out a little piece that was bugging me,” said Lindholm. “Frustrating, because I want to be out there helping the team. But that’s what the team decided with the doctors and me on what was best for the long term. With the injury, we knew that it was going to heal fully and be back but that made the setback be like I couldn’t play the rest of the year with the timing of it.”…
Mark Kastelic is also coming out of a long odyssey with concussion symptoms. He first suffered the head injury on January 9 in a late-game fight Tampa’s Emil Lilleberg when his head bounced off the ice. He was in and out of the lineup until, in a game in Vegas on March 20, he wasn’t feeling right. He came out of that game and he was eventually shut down for the season.
“It’s been a bit of a process to try and get over that hump. I think the last week I’ve felt really like myself again, which is a great sign and makes me on a day-to-day basis a lot happier,” said Kastelic.
He’s had concussions before but not one that has lingered this long.
“This one was a little bit of a learning process, very frustrating at times. I’m trying to be positive throughout it, but it’s not fun missing a lot of time,” said Kastelic.
There is no contact avoidance in Kastelic’s style of play. He doesn’t expect that to change.
“Going forward, I’m not concerned at all,” said Kastelic, who had signed a three-year extension before the injury. “I think time will be to my advantage coming up here over the summer. I don’t think that’s something I’m going to think about ever and it’s not going to be in the back of my head as long as there’s no headaches. I think I’m past that point now. I only know how to play one way, so I don’t think I can change my style of game. That’s been the hard part and kind of why I felt I had to step back a little bit because I was dealing with it on the ice for the past couple of months.”
Kastelic said he’s had a lot of people helping him through it, including former captain Patrice Bergeron, who had a long history with concussions….
Interim coach Joe Sacco said he hasn’t yet gotten any more clarity on his situation and reiterated that he’d love to be back on a more permanent basis. Asked if he saw a path to possibly returning to his former assistant’s role under a new head coach, Sacco didn’t exactly rule it out.
“That’s a tough question to answer. We’ll see what happens in the near future. We’ll address that, if and when that opportunity comes up,” said Sacco.