Swayman negotiations may have been delayed by tragedy.
Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins have not reached a deal, but there may be a good reason why.
Earlier today I brought you a story in which Boston Bruins insider Fluto Shinzawa made it clear that he believes Jeremy Swayman's contract holdout could extend well into training camp.
While Shinzawa's prediction may still become a reality, there may very well be another very tragic reason that the negotiations between Swayman and the Bruins have seemingly stalled in recent weeks.
During his most recent podcast, National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman shed some light on the fact that the tragic deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau may have had a very real impact on the contract talks between Swayman and his current team.
"It should be pointed out that Lewis Gross, who represents Swayman also represented the Gaudreau brothers," said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "So he had other more important things on his mind."
No one could possibly blame Swayman's agent for being too distraught or distracted to properly do his job after two of his young clients were killed in such a senseless tragedy, especially not anyone that considers themselves a member of the hockey community. According to Friedman, that includes the Boston Bruins.
"I have no doubt that the Bruins were respectful of that," said Friedman. "The whole hockey world was outstanding when it came to rallying around the family over the last couple of weeks."
Friedman stated flatly that he believes this put a temporary pause on Swayman's contract talks.
"I think it put a temporary halt to the Swayman proceedings," added the insider.
Neither Swayman nor his agent should be blamed if this is indeed the case, and now only time will tell if a deal gets done sooner rather than later.
