BOSTON — Jeremy Swayman is signed. Now when will he play?
It won’t be the Bruins’ Tuesday’s opener at Florida. Both he and Don Sweeney said he won’t be ready that fast. Joonas Korpisalo will start Game 1.
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Beyond that, it’s not clear. The Bruins are home on Thursday against Montreal and host the Kings on Saturday, so practice time will be limited. Swayman will put in extra sessions with goalie coach Bob Essensa.
“Game reps are game reps and, and preseason is there for a reason. He’ll go through some progressions,” Sweeney said. “But as I said, he works hard and will be ready to go hopefully as soon as possible, but he and Goalie Bob will have some work to do and I’m excited to have him back in the net.”
Swayman has been working out with the Boston University hockey team to stay sharp. He didn’t think it would take long.
“Just doing what I’ve been doing. Being the hardest worker on the ice every time I possibly can be. Even though I didn’t have as much flow drills and obviously game-type scenarios lately that’s gonna be something that clicks right away,” he said. “As players, we all know that it only takes, you know, a couple of real good skates to get back into the rhythm of things and, and that’s our job. My job is to do exactly that when I start getting reps, I’m gonna be getting ready. I wanna be getting ready right away. I want to start every game. I’m excited for that challenge.”
The Bruins could carry three goalies but that’s a challenge from a salary cap standpoint. Most likely Swayman will step in as the backup goalie right away and Korpisalo will start until he’s ready. Boston will likely have to put both Brandon Bussi and Jiri Patera on waivers before Monday’s roster deadline.
