Boston Bruins draftee Jeremy Swayman is Maine’s steady force

Maine goaltender Jeremy Swayman earned All-Hockey East third-team last season. (Peter Buehner/Maine Athletics)

Jack Quinlivan is one of many people who knew what the Maine Black Bears had in Jeremy Swayman from the day they stepped on campus together.

Swayman’s journey isn’t typical of one that brings a Division 1 hockey player here to New England, but the region has become a second home for the junior goaltender who hails from Anchorage, Alaska. The ride took many twists and turns before he became the Boston Bruins’ fourth-round draft choice and landed at Maine in 2017.

Following just one season of juniors with the United States Hockey League’s Sioux Falls Stampede, Swayman arrived at
Alfond Arena a few months after being drafted by the Black and Gold. He instantly stood out to all those around him.

“Coming in as a freshman, he was definitely ahead of a lot of us in terms of development and ability for his position,” said Quinlivan, a Shrewsbury, Mass., native who is Swayman’s junior classmate and one of Maine’s assistant captains this season. “He was an elite goalie right away from the first week of practice, and I think our whole team knew it.”