The Athletic article from October was pretty illuminating. A couple of quotes worth noting:
“It’s all based on statistics,” Swayman said. “The comparables are different from what you want to hear. Some of the things they pull up aren’t necessarily true, for that matter.”
“Of course I’m going to be upset in situations. I’m a human being,” said Swayman. “And I’m OK with that. That’s something I’ve worked on since college. It’s having these emotions, recognizing them and using them to an advantage. Not going complete red brain.”
“I know this is total fuel for the fire,” Swayman said of arbitration. “I’m going to make it a positive. Every adversity I’m faced with, I’m going to make it a positive. Because that’s just what I’ve done since I was a little kid to the here and now. I’m grateful for those opportunities to have that chip on my shoulder and be the underdog. I’ve always loved that. I always love that, man. It’s so, so fun to be in that position.
“When I first got called up, I just came out of nowhere and stuck. That’s something I’ve kept with me to this day. Having the opportunity to represent Alaska, a smaller hockey state, is really something that I get to really take with me and make a lot of Alaskans — and now Mainers — proud. Because I keep that seriously so close to heart. It’s more than me. It’s something I really enjoy.”
Swayman on the Bruins' arbitration briefs: "Some of the things they pull up aren’t necessarily true. … Of course I’m going to be upset."
theathletic.com
Goalies are weird. Pretty clear that the arbitration process caught Swayman off guard as to how intense and in-depth it was, and the guy actively seeks out grievances to use as motivation, so this ended up being right up his ally and he’s holding on to it primarily for that reason. If Sweeney were especially cunning and ruthless you could even see him using the arbitration process to twist the screws that little bit more to deliberately poke the bear and spur his charge on. Don himself hinted at that when he said “every opportunity is right in front of him (Sway) to grab a hold of and find a level of compensation and contract that will really make him happy.”
Comes across to me that the Bruins know their man and will do what it takes to get the best out of him, even if some of it isn’t strictly speaking ‘nice’. And Sway buys into it and basically baits himself to get into that “I’ll show you” mentality that he seems to thrive on. In which case, hey whatever it takes. As long as the chip keeps working for Jeremy and Boston eventually get him signed to a solid long-term deal, it’s all good.
