ORONO — University of Maine goaltender Jeremy Swayman signed a professional contract with the Boston Bruins organization on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-3 junior will forego his senior season with the Black Bears for whom he posted career-best numbers this winter. The Anchorage, Alaska native was a fourth-round pick by Boston in the 2017 National Hockey League Entry Draft.
Jeremy Swayman, right, is joined by his father, Ken Swayman, as he signs a professional contract with the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League on Tuesday in Orono.
Terms of the contract were not immediately made public.
“Simply put, it was the best three years of my life,” Swayman said shortly after signing his contract. “I made such leaps and bounds in the right direction. … Having (former UMaine goalie and current Black Bear assistant coach) Alfie Michaud as a mentor on and off the ice, I couldn’t have been more lucky.”
Swayman played in 100 career games for UMaine, whose season was cut short prior to the start of the Hockey East Association tournament due to concerns about the current COVID-19 pandemic. He went 47-40-12 over his three-year career with four shutouts, the most recent of which came in his final game for the Black Bears — a 48-save, 1-0 win over Providence College to clinch Maine’s highest finish in the league (fourth) in nine years.
Swayman posted a .939 save percentage this season, ranking second in all of NCAA Division I. His 2.07 goals against average tied for 14th in the country and was his lowest in three seasons at Maine.
In his career, Swayman finished with a 2.51 GAA and .927 save percentage.
Maine was set to host Connecticut in a best-of-three HEA quarterfinal series last weekend — in what would have been Swayman’s first home playoff games — but the league canceled its entire postseason tournament, as the NCAA did with its national tournament.
In a video message to fans released by the UMaine athletic department, Swayman felt the timing was still right to turn pro. It had been rumored throughout the season that his junior season could be his last at Alfond Arena.
“I think that really capped it off well, to get that 1-0 win (over Providence) and get that win for our seniors that have done so much for our program was extremely important,” Swayman said. “I’ll definitely remember that for the rest of my life.”
A bronze medalist with Team USA at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships, Swayman participated in each of the last three summer development camps for the Bruins. There he worked closely with Mike Dunham, who was the Black Bear goalie for their 1993 national championship win.
Dunham currently serves as Boston’s goaltending development coach.
Earlier this week, Swayman was named the 68th Walter Brown Award winner, given annually to the best U.S.-born college hockey player in New England. He joined Mike McHugh (1988) as the only UMaine players in history to win the award.
“To the fans of the Maine Black Bears, it’s truly been a pleasure to play in front of you,” Swayman said. “The big thing for me was that it wasn’t just playing in front of 5,000 fans in the Alfond, it was playing for the entire state of Maine — and for that, the entire East coast. Everywhere we went, there were always Maine jerseys in the barn.
“It’s amazing how much the Black Bears mean to this entire country. To put on that jersey every day and play in front of you guys, it was truly an honor that I’ll always remember.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
