Swayman Is the Only Answer Boston Has, and That's the Problem

The Bruins traded Joonas Korpisalo to New York on July 1. Michael Hutchinson retired last week. Jack Campbell left the league around the same time. None of that is Boston's fault, exactly, but the cumulative effect is the same: Jeremy Swayman is the only goaltender on this roster with meaningful NHL experience, and there is nothing visible behind him.

I wrote about this a few days ago when Hutchinson's retirement dropped. The point stands and has only gotten quieter since — no signing, no trade rumor, no minor-league depth move that's surfaced publicly. The free-agent goaltending market has thinned considerably this summer, and the broader retirement wave has made it worse. Boston isn't the only team caught short, but they may be the most exposed given everything else going on with this roster.

The concern isn't Swayman himself. It's the math of an 84-game season with no margin. A short-term injury to the starter, a rough stretch of form, a suspension — any of it leaves the Bruins without a credible option. That's a fragile way to build a season, especially for a team that already allowed 3.1 goals per game through much of last year before tightening up too late to matter.

Kevyn Adams joining the front office as senior advisor in mid-July was framed as a signal of organizational seriousness. If that's true, the goaltending situation is the most urgent place to show it before camp opens.