BOSTON — Jeremy Swayman knows the deal. The better he plays for the Boston Bruins, the better the odds become that he earns a spot on Team USA for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

“Of course,” Swayman said when asked if the Winter Games were on his mind, after Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings. “It’s been a life goal of mine to be on the Olympic team. I do know that if I do my job for the Boston Bruins, it’s going to put me in a good position to be there one day.

“So I’m just going to stick to my day-to-day life here. Hopefully it works out the right way.”

At this rate, Swayman does not have to worry about making the 2026 American roster. In fact, he is putting himself in a position to be the No. 1 goalie.

On Nov. 22, Connor Hellebuyck, once the favorite to be the American starter, underwent knee surgery. The Winnipeg Jets goalie is scheduled to miss four to six weeks.

Jake Oettinger, who joined Hellebuyck and Swayman as the U.S. goalies at the 4 Nations Face-Off, has an .885 save percentage in November.

Swayman, meanwhile, has a .934 save percentage this month. He stopped 24 of 26 shots in regulation and overtime Saturday. Swayman followed that up with shootout saves on Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat to give the Bruins two critical points.

Sway shut ’em down ❌❌❌ pic.twitter.com/imGflAaTDy

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 30, 2025

“That’s everything,” Swayman said of securing the win. “That could have gone one of two ways. We knew that. We don’t like losing at home. Fans deserved a win tonight. We all had to dig in. No matter what came our way, just keep pushing and make sure we come out with two points.”

Swayman was something of an afterthought at 4 Nations. That is life as the No. 3 goalie. He was the only one of the three not to see action.

He had been in a similar international situation. He made the U.S. team for the 2018 World Junior Championship behind Oettinger and Joseph Woll, his fellow 1997-born goalies. Swayman has made a living by proving people wrong.

For now, his club team is reaping the benefits of his brilliance. The Bruins have won 11 of Swayman’s 17 starts. If he sees the puck, he usually stops it.

“We all feed off it,” Bruins center Mark Kastelic said of Swayman’s swagger. “You can feed off his confidence. He’s so confident back there right now. That allows us to focus on doing all our jobs. When he’s back there, we definitely have all the faith in him. He’s come up huge multiple times for us this month.”

Swayman has displayed a pitch-perfect blend of technical mastery, competitiveness and timeliness. He’s been square to shots. He’s tracked pucks to the point where he’s skated himself into position to execute simple saves, not acrobatic ones. He’s stayed on his feet. Swayman’s been spot on with his depth: aggressive on occasion, drifting back toward the goal line when necessary.

Against the Red Wings, the two pucks that beat him were no-chancers. Raymond tipped a Dylan Larkin shot. Michael Rasmussen slam-dunked a back-door goal after Larkin and Kane completed two passes across the slot line, which is just about impossible for goalies to follow.

“We feel it,” coach Marco Sturm said of Swayman’s presence. “Most importantly, our players feel it. It’s such a good feeling when you have that.”

It wasn’t always that way. We all know the arc of Swayman’s 2024-25 season: the trade of partner Linus Ullmark, missing all of training camp, signing a $66 million blockbuster that reset the goaltending market and never finding his game.

“He’s always been a really good goalie,” Sturm said of Swayman. “Goalies need confidence going into the game, the season. He just couldn’t get out of it last year. We all saw it coming. He just couldn’t get out of it. This year, since Day 1 — I talked to him on the phone, the first time I met him — he came in with a smile. He still has that smile every day. Now he’s in a very good spot.”

Perhaps the only thing to put a smile on Swayman’s face last year was when he won gold at the 2025 World Championship. It was an exclamation point to conclude a sentence that had included a string of question marks.

“That’s something that did give me confidence,” said Swayman. “It was a weight off my shoulders, knowing I could finally win something and be part of that success also. Guys in here have all had success at the highest level. It was just an experience for me, and using that confidence in that experience to move forward and help the Bruins win hockey games.”

Neither Hellebuyck nor Oettinger was there. Swayman beat Joey Daccord to finish out the tournament for the Americans. 

So it was a good point for Swayman to prove to Team USA that he can win while wearing the Stars and Stripes. He did not take the tournament lightly.

In retrospect, it was a critical reboot for a goalie who is now at the peak of his profession. According to Moneypuck, Swayman has saved 17.5 goals above expectation this season. No goalie has saved more.

There is no reason Swayman cannot continue this run into February.