The Boston Bruins signed Jeremy Swayman to an eight-year, $66 million contract on Sunday. In doing so, they get their No. 1 goalie back on the ice and end a contract crisis that approached the start of the regular season.

As a restricted free agent, Swayman had missed all of training camp. Teams faced a Dec. 1 deadline to sign him or sit out the entire season, a potential disaster for a team that had two top goaltenders last year — Swayman and 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark – who had been rotating in the net until the start of the playoffs.

After serving as Ullmark's No. 2 pick during Boston's record-setting 2022-23 season, Swayman was unable to agree to a long-term contract in the summer of 2023 and was handed a $3.475 million deal in arbitration. He was outraged by the process and said, “I never want to do it again.”

With his new average annual value of $8.25 million, Swayman is tied with Ilya Sorokin for the fourth-highest AAV for a goaltender. He trails only Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million), Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million) and Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million).

“Hey fans, it's 'Sway,'” Swayman said in a video the Bruins posted on social media. “I'm so happy to be back. I can’t thank you for all your support throughout the process, but we still have many new beginnings ahead of us and I can’t wait to get started.”

The deal avoids a holdout that threatened to jeopardize the season for the Original Six franchise, which has had six straight (not pandemic-shortened) 100-point seasons but has not advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2019.

Swayman alternated with Ullmark last year and made 43 regular-season starts with a 2.53 goals-against average before earning the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Bruins lost in the second round to eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said his top priority was to sign Swayman in the offseason, but he traded Ullmark before locking up the 25-year-old from Alaska – timing that made an impact on the player the negotiations provided.

When training camp began in September, Swayman was still out of contract, and the two teams disagreed over the existence of a $64 million offer, which team president Cam Neely referenced earlier this week.

The Bruins had Joonas Korpisalo, acquired from the Ottawa Senators in the Ullmark trade, and 26-year-old Brandon Bussi, who played 41 games for Providence of the AHL last season, on the roster.

Coach Jim Montgomery said early in camp that he viewed Swayman's absence like an injury: “It's next man up.”

Korpisalo started 49 games for Ottawa last season with a 3.27 GAA. Boston also received a 2024 first-round draft pick, which they used for center Dean Letourneau and forward Mark Kastelic as part of the deal.

Sweeney said Sunday that Korpisalo would still be in the starting lineup for Tuesday's regular-season opener against the Panthers, as was planned before the Swayman deal was finalized.

Information from The Associated Press and ESPN's Greg Wyshynski was used in this report.