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This Isn’t Rocket Science

The Bruins have absolutely bungled the Jeremy Swayman situation from the start, so let’s get that out of the way first and foremost. We had undoubtedly the best goalie tandem in the league for the last two seasons. A ton of goalie hugs were had, but we didn’t win anything of meaning. As nice of a luxury it was to have Ullmark and Swayman on the same team, it was never going to last for long. It’s just not feasible to be paying two Vezina candidates simultaneously and it was always going to come to an abrupt end. However, I would have hoped at least one of them would be locked up long term before sending the other packing. We traded Ullmark this offseason for a first round pick and Joonas Korpisalo; another goalie from the Ottawa Senators. Good trade? Sure. Good timing? Absolutely not. As soon as the Bruins sent Ullmark up north, the floodgates opened for Swayman’s agent Lewis Gross. This is the same agent who bungled the Nylander negotiations for the Leafs. For my baseball people, this guy is essentially Scott Boras but not nearly as successful. He has no problem having his guys sit out the season to get a few more dollars on their contracts and to pad his pockets a little more. 

Swayman is the only reason the Bruins were in any of those games with the Florida Panthers and to be honest we don’t make it past the leafs without him playing the way he was. Does he deserve to be paid like a top goalie in the league? Yes. Are they dragging this out? Yes. The Bruins allowed Sway and his agent to have this much leverage on them. It absolutely blows my mind that they let Ullmark go before the pen hit paper with Swayman. He just played his ass off in the playoffs and the whole fan base is clamoring for a new contract. Even if it was a bit of an overpay (I don’t think 8x8 is an overpay) nobody would’ve cared. Who knows if he goes out and has a whole season like that then 8x8 looks like a bargain. Goalies only play about half the season anyway… it’s just not good business to have too much money tied into a position that’s only going to be there half the time. Everybody knew Swayman was going to go to arbitration except the B’s apparently. Having Ullmark on the back burner until they went to arbitration would’ve made this negotiation a lot less stressful on the B’s end. Now they HAVE to get a deal done because we can’t roll into the season with the goalies that we have it’s just not going to result in wins. 

Meanwhile the relationship between the two parties seems to be souring by the day. While I still believe Swayman wants to play in Boston like he reiterated after the Florida loss, I do believe that stance is wavering just a little bit. I hate how the Bruins have handled this, I hate Cam Neely’s comments the other day as well. “I’d have 64 million reasons to be on the ice”. For an organization as professional and as well respected as Boston airing out a players contract negotiations to the media is as “bush league” as it gets. Why open the door for more discontent in Swayman’s camp and for the media to run wild with this story? It’s unprofessional and flat out stupid. He’s already pissed about arbitration, they’re already prepared to sit out until December AT LEAST. I understand wanting to jump start these negotiations and get him back on the ice but this isn’t going to help. Neely lit the fire and Gross poured gas on it by saying that 64 million number was never brought to them. SOMEBODY is lying here and I really hope it’s not the Bruins because if that’s the truth I don’t think Swayman is going to want to be here anymore if he hasn’t made that decision already. This is either going to be wrapped up soon or this is just the start of the drama. Whatever the case may be, they need to sit down and come to an agreement because this is a wasted season without #1 between the pipes and the Bruins are solely to blame.

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We Are So Back, Baby!

The NHL is back!

Now that we’ve made it to the end of the NHL offseason and a pre-season that has been filled with absolute goonery (so many penalties, so many injuries), lets take a look at some of the milestones that we could run into during this NHL regular season.

Crosby: 8 goals shy of 600

Totally achievable and though he is more of a senior citizen these days, Sid the Kid will absolutely hit this target barring catastrophic injury. 20 people have hit 600 goals in NHL history and Sid should be the 21st.

Geno Malkin: 29 short of 500

Another Penguin closing in on a milestone. Geno needs 29 to hit 500 (only 3 active players are at that mark right now including Sid, Ovechkin and Stamkos). Geno should hit this within the year but likely wont be within the first 2 months.

Paul Maurice: 31 Coaching wins from 900

Maurice has turned into one of the most quotable and enjoyable coaches to watch in the NHL. once his Panthers hit the 31 win mark he will join a trio of Coaches who already have more then 900 wins (Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville and Barry Trotz) Given how short Coaches life spans are its a pretty remarkable achievement.

WEEKEND WAGERS!

I am probably the only guy on earth missing F1 wagers right now, but we’ve got a ton of football coming up and hockey is back so we have a few guys look to be in line for some big weeks so lets take a look at our Weekend Wagers!

Anytime TD pick:

Jordan Addison +275: This is an early London game and they don’t typically produce huge scoring but Addison is the benefactor of being second behind Justin Jefferson. Look for him to score again this week

Jeremy McNichols +300: ONCE the RB situation has been confirmed and IF Robinson Jr is out I’m taking a McNichols anytime TD. watch the injury report before wagering

Derrick Henry -225: This is probably the free spot on the board. Im tossing it out because its a great Parlay add on to give you some boosted value.

NHL Bets:

Timo Meier Over 3.5 Shots

Jack Hughes Over 3.5 Shots

Jesper Bratt Over 2.5 Shots

if you parlay thats +550 and should be a decent payout.

Starting next week we will be giving you extra wagers if you subscribe to our premium edition of the newsletter. The premium edition includes a weekly HAMMER pick from Dubs and a DFS cash line up from myself. I will also be placing NHL wagers there so you can see my best bets for NHL by subscribing. IF you want to upgrade to the premium version click the button below:

That’s it for this week, don’t forget to check us out this Wednesday on The Great North sports over on YouTube and X