Eastern Conference team is upset and concerned about how the Spencer Knight deal impacts them

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Andrew Loftus
October 1, 2022 (11:22)

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Just recently the Florida Panthers extended the contract of their young goaltender Spencer Knight. His new three year contract starts next year and will pay him $4.5 million per season. Knight appears to be in contention as the panther's goalie of the future depending on how Sergei Bobrovsky plays. The Panthers did not want to risk the possibility of losing Knight to another team from an offer sheet and I understand why they would feel that way. Knight has played well for them and he's the panther's first round pick back in 2019. They're committed to him.

According to Elliotte Friedman, The Boston Bruins find themselves in a similar situation with goaltender Jeremy Swayman. The American goaltender has played well when called upon for Boston. So much so that he split time evenly with Linus Ullmark who was supposed to be the number one goalie in organization. Ullmark struggled at the start of last year and Swayman was relied upon throughout the season and he responded to the challenge. Swayman is clearly in the mix to be Boston's goalie of the future with his play.

If you're Boston and you've got Jeremy Swayman, you're looking at that and saying, uh oh, that's a problem for us.

The problem with the Spencer Knight deal for Boston is you would have to think that Jeremy Swayman is looking for a similar contract to Spencer Knight. He too is a restricted free agent after this year. This could be problematic for Boston. Currently Boston already is over the salary cap and still has to be looking at locking up David Pasternak to a long-term contract. Boston also has seven forwards who are unrestricted free agents after the season is up. With that in mind, Boston could be looking for a few forward positions to fill and signing Pasternak to a big contract. Perhaps Jeremy Swayman might get left out if Boston can't create the cap space for him.

Is Swayman worth $4.5-$5 million per season or has his play not justified that? Is Ullmark ready to play like a number one goaltender their paying him to be? These are questions general manager Don Sweeny will have to address as the season progresses.