Jeremy Swayman

Jeremy Swayman won the Mike Richter Award as the top goaltender in NCAA hockey in 2020 — the same spring he signed an entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins. The Anchorage, Alaska native had served as the number one goaltender for the Maine Black Bears that season, appearing in all 34 of the team's games and posting a .939 save percentage, a 2.07 GAA, and 3 shutouts. Boston selected him in the fourth round, 111th overall, of the 2017 NHL Draft. He is 6'3" and catches left.

Swayman first joined InGoal Magazine's audience when he appeared on InGoal Radio alongside his University of Maine goaltending coach Alfie Michaud InGoal Radio Feature Interview: Mike Richter Award Winner Jeremy Swayman and Coach Alfie Michaud, InGoal Radio Episode 67: Jeremy Swayman and Alfie Michaud. Michaud had been a Black Bear himself in the late 1990s before a 15-year pro career that began with the Vancouver Canucks and included stints in three European leagues. Their conversation covered NCAA training and development, insights into Swayman's technical work, and how each of them approached games.

At Maine, Michaud used strings, a set of moveable external posts, and the concept of Box Control to address a tendency Swayman had to over-extend on saves. Swayman described what he was working to correct: "Truthfully, I did get extended a lot and I would end up doing a big butterfly slide from one dot to the other and I'd end up outside the post when it just really wasn't necessary, because I do have a big frame and I know that I can cover net without doing extremely big acrobatic saves and acrobatic movements." The external posts — which Michaud first encountered at the NET360 goalie camp in Kelowna in 2018 and brought back to Maine — gave Swayman a visual reference for how much net he was already covering. "I could just be heels on top of the crease, or toes on top of the crease and still have the depth that I needed in order to cover most of the net," Swayman said. "The big thing I learned is you can't make a save when you're moving as good as you can when you're set and being set for pucks helped me tremendously." How Jeremy Swayman Learned to Control his Net

Swayman and Michaud also used the SKLZ Lightning Bolt Pro pitching machine to work on hand-eye coordination and soft hands, having incorporated it into their training over multiple seasons at Maine. Swayman noticed a difference after using it regularly with teammate Matthew Thiessen, a Vancouver Canucks draft pick: "We could tell there was a big difference. A lot of bounce outs my sophomore year and I wasn't seeing the puck in all the way and when I started using this — Thiessen and I would use it probably every day when our schedules worked." He ordered one for his summer training in Alaska ahead of his first pro camp with the Bruins. "Just receiving the puck," he said. "I used to fight pucks off a lot and that's just not necessary, so just seeing the puck all the way in and tracking, it really helped me." Pro-Gear: Ball machines help NHL and other goaltenders stay sharp

Swayman turned pro and joined the Bruins organization, winning 10 of his first 12 games as a professional — including a 40-save debut win over the Philadelphia Flyers and a 31-save win over the Washington Capitals — with an 8-1-0 record and .933 save percentage in his first AHL action. How Jeremy Swayman Learned to Control his Net

A game-day warm-up drill Swayman began at the University of Maine carried over into his NHL routine with Boston. After the standard morning skate, he would meet goaltending coach Bob Essensa at center ice for an additional movement and tracking sequence. Swayman described it: "A big part of it is it's a recovery drill. So, it's like you take a shot from an angle, you take a butterfly, eyes go first and then you're sliding across for that second save. It's not desperation, but it's more of a control drill and it's just a way for me to see the puck on a different angle." Essensa explained his interest in the drill: "To me it incorporates a couple of things, obviously tracking pucks, retaining pucks, tracking pucks in motion. Everything we're trying to do here is to keep everything compact coming across, your hands and stick and everything is nice and compact." Essensa noted that Swayman's pre-game routine differed from those of Linus Ullmark, Tuukka Rask, and Jaroslav Halak, and framed his role in part as accommodating individual preferences: "If this makes him feel good and gets him ready for each start, we're going to do it." Pro-Drills with Jeremy Swayman and Bob Essensa: Swayman shares unique warm-up routine

InGoal Magazine spent time with the Bruins goalies during the 2022-23 season, observing Swayman and Ullmark work through a down-low patience drill with Essensa after practice. The drill involved Essensa near the top of the face-off circle, a forward positioned just outside the crease, and additional forwards cutting from the tops of the circles to one of three lanes. Swayman described what it required of him: "It's reading the threat on where the puck is first and foremost, but when a puck goes below or by the goal line, all the defense are looking where the threat is above the goal line too, so it's my job to not only protect the short side shot, but know where threats are coming towards the net. It's getting a quick glance of where the open sticks are in front and then also controlling the shot." Pro-Drills with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman

Swayman's pre-game ball drop drill, observed in a social media video, drew attention from vision training expert Josh Tucker of True Focus Vision. Tucker, who is Minnesota-based and has worked with 30 NHL goalies and 12 NHL teams over 18 years, broke down the drill and developed a progression for other goalies to follow. Jeremy Swayman Ball Drop Drill

In an excerpt published by InGoal from The Power Within III, Swayman spoke at length about his relationship with Ullmark and the dynamics of goaltender partnerships Power Within III Excerpt: Boston Bruins Jeremy Swayman. "What I love about Linus most is that when we talked, it would always be a somewhat productive conversation for the both of us," Swayman said. "It was like, if we were talking about nutrition stuff, I'd say, 'I do this and I feel this way.' He would do the same. It was a completely positive thing; every conversation was how we could help each other." He also described the competitive element: "If I didn't play well, I knew he was going to come in the next day and probably win. Then I would feel like shit because I knew that I didn't give my team the best chance to win. Then I would go out and up my game in return." Swayman drew a direct line from that partnership back to his time at Maine with Matt Thiessen: "I knew I did that with Matt Thiessen at the University of Maine. We had the same relationship. He was a draft pick for Vancouver, and he was competing for my job. I accepted it and said, 'Thiess, I want to grow and learn with you. But at the same time, it's my net, baby.'"

Swayman is currently in his sixth NHL season with the Boston Bruins, wearing number 1. Through 244 career games he carries a .909 save percentage and a 2.62 GAA with 17 shutouts. In the 2025-26 season he has appeared in 54 games, going 30-18-4 with a 2.76 GAA and a .906 save percentage.

InGoal Magazine has covered Jeremy Swayman in three podcast appearances, four drill breakdowns, and two InGoal articles.