Jeremy Swayman may have just set the standard for Stuart Skinner's next contract

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Finnegan Frost
October 6, 2024 (11:00 PM)

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It was recently announced that superstar goalie Jeremy Swayman has re-signed with the Boston Bruins.

After months of drama and contract negotiations, the Boston Bruins have officially signed Jeremy Swayman to an 8-year, $8.25 million AAV deal. It was reported earlier this yesterday (October 5th), where NHL insider Elliotte Friedman posted a tweet that indicated the Boston Bruins and Jeremy Swayman were close to finalizing a deal. Just moments later, it was confirmed by the team.

With that being said, this new contract for Swayman has major implications for oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner.

According to Liam McCormick of Oilers Daily, Stuart Skinner is currently under contract for the next two seasons at only $2.6M, and he's certainly due for a major raise if he continues his play. This offseason, Skinner parted ways with his agent to get new retention from Ray Petkau, an agent known for representing the NHL's goalie union'.

Stuart Skinner and Jeremy Swayman are almost exact replicas of each other. Both goalies are 25 years of age, both Stanley Cup calibre net minder's, and played a similar amount of games. Although Swayman has a higher save percentage and is regarded as a more elite goaltender, Stuart Skinner has a Stanley Cup final under his belt.

As per McCormick, while Swayman to this point has been a little better than Stuart Skinner, they're directly comparable, and will likely earn a relatively similar salary. If Skinner excels over the next two seasons and perhaps adds a Stanley Cup with the Oilers, he'll have grounds to perhaps demand more salary than Swayman. The salary cap is increasing as well, which will give the Oilers some space to sign Skinner, but it also gives him more grounds to demand higher salary.

As per Puckpedia, Stuart Skinner is currently signed to a 3-year contract with a cap hit of $2,600,000 per season. His contract expires at the end of the 2025-26 season, when Skinner is 27 years old. But with that in mind, Jeremy Swayman has just set the bar for younger, more inexperienced goaltenders.

Despite Swayman setting the bar for young goaltenders regarding contract negotiations, I can see Skinner being far more of a team player by opting for a more team friendly contract if the opportunity presents itself.