Jeremy Swayman is the only restricted free agent unsigned in the NHL as of this writing, with the start of the regular season roughly a week away.

The Boston Bruins and the 25-year-old goalkeeper have not yet been able to negotiate a contract. Under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, Swayman must sign by Dec. 1 to be eligible to play in the 2024-25 season.

Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs, president Cam Neely, general manager Don Sweeney and head coach Jim Montgomery met with the media on Monday for their annual season-opening press conference. All four spoke about Swayman’s situation, but Neely was the most open in the group.

Sweeney was asked if he was surprised by Swayman’s contract request, and before he could fully answer the question, Neely interjected, “I was.”

Neely was asked why he was surprised and, if he could, provide details about Swayman’s request.

“I don’t want to go into depth with his question, but I know I have 64 million reasons why I would play right now,” Neely said.

This comment implies that the Bruins offered Swayman a $64 million deal. Neely didn’t say how much term was offered, but an eight-year deal with an $8 million salary cap hit would total $64 million. Again, the Bruins didn’t say they offered him an 8×8 deal, but with a $64 million offer for Swayman, no other term makes sense.

An 8×8 contract would give Swayman the sixth-highest cap hit of any goaltender for the 2024-25 season. There are currently only five goaltenders with a cap number over $6.4 million for the 2024-25 season.

A $64 million deal would be a very fair offer from the Bruins. Swayman is a top-10 goaltender who had a standout performance in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But he has never been the best goalkeeper for an entire season. His career high for starts in a regular season is 43. He has started just 125 regular season games in four years.

He doesn’t have the track record or resume to match the other highest-paid goalkeepers. An average annual salary of $8 million would be more than double what Swayman made last season ($3.475 million).

The salary cap is also likely to rise significantly in the foreseeable future. An 8×8 deal looks good now, but what if the cap increases significantly over the life of the contract? All of these things need to be taken into account by both sides.

“I firmly believe that Jeremy wants to play here. I asked him straight up if you wanted to play here and he did,” Neely said. “I believe they will get a deal done. It is unfortunate that it cannot take place today.”