But when camp officially commenced in Brighton, Swayman was down the street at Boston University’s Agganis Arena to maintain his conditioning.

With no contract struck between the Bruins and the restricted free agent, Swayman wasn’t a participant during camp as his representatives and the franchise struggled to bridge the gap on a new deal.

By the time Swayman finally signed an eight-year, $66 million contract on Oct. 6, the toll of a contentious contract dispute was evident.

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The Bruins finally had their top goalie back in the fold. But both training camp and a full preseason slate had passed them all by.

After speaking with the media upon signing his new contract, Swayman flew to Florida two days before the Bruins’ season opener against the Panthers.

The lack of reps in training camp, combined with the erosion of Boston’s rigid defensive structure in front of him, led to a painful regression in net for Swayman.

After sporting the worst save percentage of his career last winter (.892), Swayman feels as though his full participation in this year’s training camp will offer him a clean slate and allow him to put last year’s struggles behind him.

“I’m a completely different human being,” Swayman said Thursday when asked of his mind-set a year removed from last year’s contract strife. “And that’s a testament to the experience that I gained throughout my career to this point. And I’m so grateful for that — the ups and downs of it all. And standing here, Jeremy Swayman is in a great spot, and I’m really excited about that.”

Swayman was one of more than 30 Bruins players and prospects who took the ice for Thursday’s captains practice — an early precursor to the club’s preseason ramp-up with training camp still a few weeks away.

A lot will fall on Swayman’s shoulders this season if a retooled Bruins roster has any shot of playing meaningful hockey in the spring.

While questions abound about the Bruins’ scoring depth outside of stalwart David Pastrnak, Swayman likely will be tasked with keeping the Bruins off the ropes on nights where they don’t have the means to generate offense.

Last season, the 26-year-old goalie struggled to find a groove — ranking 63rd out of 73 qualified goalies (minimum of 10 games played) with a minus-9.1 goals saved above expected rate (per MoneyPuck).

Swayman’s decline stood in stark contrast to the poise he displayed over his first four NHL seasons (.919 save percentage from 2020-24).

Swayman said he overhauled his offseason approach in order to steel himself for another year as Boston’s No. 1 netminder.

“Everything,” Swayman said, when asked what he changed this offseason. “It’s been a great summer for that alone. Just focusing on what I can improve on from my experience. … I was on the ice a lot.

“And that was something I was really looking forward to — just getting back to the rhythm of things. And right when I got back from [IIHF World Championships], it was pretty much a steady schedule on the ice and really working on my technique, my body, and making sure I’m in a great position, come right now, to be at the top of my game and competing.”

A strong showing with Team USA at Worlds gave Swayman the added lift he needed this summer after helping the US win its first gold medal in the international tournament.

Swayman went 7-0 during the tournament while sporting a .921 save percentage.

“That tournament for me, personally, was a great cap to a year that I wanted better from,” Swayman said, “and to just let it all go and just play my game again, I found a lot.”

Swayman did not offer any projections when asked about the expectations on a Bruins team looking to return to the playoffs.

For now, Swayman is looking forward to rejoining his teammates on the ice this fall.

“It’s an extremely important time of the year,” Swayman said. “If I didn’t have that experience [last year], I probably wouldn’t understand the importance of it. So yeah, it’s definitely allowed me to prepare a little bit differently come training camp time and looking forward to it.

“That’s something that I really rallied behind is being in this locker room and just [exuding] love to everyone, because I missed them at this time of year last year.”

Conor Ryan can be reached at conor.ryan@globe.com.