Former University of Maine and current Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman will look to bounce back from his worst season as a pro during the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in Sweden and Denmark beginning May 9.
Swayman was one of the first 18 players, including three goalies, chosen for the United States team. More players will be added when teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The other goalies are Joey Daccord from the Seattle Kraken and Hampton Slukynsky, who backstopped Western Michigan to its first ever NCAA Division I championship.
However, other goalies could be added.
Swayman struggled this season along with the rest of the Bruins, and the team wound up trading several veterans around the trade deadline.
The Bruins missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
The 26-year-old Swayman missed all of training camp and the preseason due to a contract dispute but did eventually sign an eight-year, $66 million deal.
After just one practice, he played in the Bruins’ home opener and beat Montreal 6-4, stopping 21 shots.
He missed the season-opening 6-4 road loss at Florida.
He finished the season with a 22-29-7 record, a 3.11 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage.
It was the first time in his career that he was the Bruins’ No. 1 goalie. He had shared the duty with Linus Ullmark, but the Bruins traded Ullmark to Ottawa in June 2024.
Swayman went 25-10-8 with a 2.53 GAA and a .916 save percentage in 2023-24 after posting a line of 24-6-4, 2.27, .920 in 2022-23.
Swayman’s first full season in the NHL was 2021-22. He was 23-14-3 with a 2.41 GAA and a .914 save percentage and he wound up playing for Team USA in the World Championships, going 4-3 with a 2.23 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
The Anchorage, Alaska, native had won the Mike Richter Award for the nation’s top Division I goaltender in 2019-20.
The World Championships will involve two eight-team groupings, with the top four teams from each bracket advancing to the quarterfinals.
The U.S. is Group B with Denmark, Hungary, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Czechia and Kazakhstan.
Group A has Canada, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Latvia, Slovenia and France.
After teams play everybody in their group, the quarterfinals will involve crossover games.
The top team in Group A will face the fourth seed from Group B and so on.
The World Championships will take on added importance because the Winter Olympics are in 2026 in Italy and NHL players will be involved in the Olympics for the first time since 2014.
Players can enhance their chances of earning a spot on an Olympic team roster with their play at the World Championships.
