A few months after the Boston Bruins saw their run to the Stanley Cup Final end in disappointment, hockey fans around New England were left holding their collective breath as the team prepared for the 2019-20 season.
One of the team’s shining stars in the present and future was left without a contract, watching his teammates start training camp. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy didn’t like that because he wanted nothing more than to return to the ice and join the Bruins as they officially turned the page after last June’s seven-game series loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Though McAvoy’s play was still revving up, as he recorded just a pair of points (both assists) through Boston’s first nine regular-season games, GM Don Sweeney sees his 21-year-old defenseman’s new deal — a three-year, $4.9 million annual contract — as much more.
“We felt very comfortable that we would eventually find a common ground and we were fortunate Charlie and his group agrees,” the general manager said Sept. 15 after McAvoy’s re-signing, one of several for talented NHL blueliners this offseason, including Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov. “And I’m excited. I’ve looked at this nothing other than well beyond three years as to when Charlie is going to play for the Boston Bruins. … He’s an important, important part of our hockey club this year, last year and many years going forward.”
Even before Sweeney uttered those words at the start of McAvoy’s latest term donning black and gold, the Long Beach, N.Y., native felt that Boston is where he belongs. And he knows the importance of continuing a hot start that has the Bruins right back in the thick of the National Hockey League picture.
Last season is behind McAvoy and his teammates, but not the hunger to play until June. He knows that Lord Stanley’s Cup isn’t won at the outset, though the points accumulated in the standings now can go a long way in setting a team up for success months down the road.
“Things are going well, but there’s still a high ceiling for us,” McAvoy said as his team got off to a 6-1-2 start. “I think that we’ve had moments in every single game when we come back into the locker room and we’ve had to take a breather to say, ‘Hey, we’re not playing our best right now,’ but we’re still getting points and results.
“We don’t want to ride that for too long. We’d like to start bringing our ‘A’ game, and that’s also me personally. We’re building it. It’s just going to keep growing.”
The team’s game will grow in time, as McAvoy’s role has over his first two years in Boston. It might be hard to believe that the two-year former Boston University star just passed 100 regular-season NHL games for his career later in the 2018-19 season, but McAvoy already has carved out a key defensive role, regularly pairing with captain Zdeno Chara, the NHL’s oldest active player.
Last season, McAvoy was the Boston’s leader in average ice time (22:10 per game), posted a plus-14 and, even while missing 27 games due to injuries, finished second to Torey Krug in points among the team’s defensemen, with 28.
The numbers are there and come as a result of his consistency and compete level. The overarching personal goals that he’ll strive for throughout the next three years is to continue to be a player that head coach Bruce Cassidy can trust when he jumps over the boards, keep improving and, ultimately, keep rising up the ranks among the NHL’s top defensemen.
Even though the offense was slow to be put up at the start, McAvoy is confident in his talents coming through.
“I’m just trying to keep pushing and play mistake-free hockey,” he said. “I know that’s not possible, but I do the best I can, try to contribute when I can and hopefully the offense will break through at some point. I don’t want to push it in the way of being irresponsible defensively. Those things come. I’ve got to keep moving my feet and keep skating.”
Despite nearly a four-year age difference, McAvoy has followed a similar hockey path to that of fellow B’s defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. Both spent two years playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program and crossed paths during McAvoy’s first of two years at BU before beginning their professional careers as Bruins.
The Charlestown, Mass., native Grzelcyk knows just how important it was to welcome longtime teammate and Brandon Carlo — who signed a new two-year deal with Boston just two days after McAvoy’s return was made official — back into the fold.
“He means so much in this locker room,” Grzelcyk said. “He’s been a heralded player for a while, and rightfully so, but he’s still so young for how much he’s already played in the league and all the success he’s had. He’s a great person to be around and his experience is extremely beneficial. He’s only going to get better.”
Cassidy and the Bruins have had the opportunity to mold a number of young players on their way to playoff runs in recent seasons, including Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen who, like McAvoy, are in their third full NHL seasons.
The experiences that working with the elder core provides have gone a long way in helping the newer group mature quickly while having to play meaningful games on the biggest stage. McAvoy carried his load well throughout the recent Cup run, too, scoring twice and adding six assists.
Of course, Chara is the lead man in the corner of any young defenseman, leaving any player or coach with the utmost comfort.
“Every coach wants good players,” Cassidy said. “Especially when they’re young you’ve got a chance to kind of mold the way you want them to play, so we’re fortunate with Charlie. He’s got a good teacher as well in [Chara]. He’s got both sides in a coach on the ice that helps him through things I certainly can’t, being an experienced player in the league, situations and players’ tendencies, and then we work on the rest of it with what we feel needs to grow.
“He’s a big part of our team and a big reason we have success.”
Cassidy expects McAvoy’s improvements will come in the form of developing an “attack mentality” and more hockey strength that comes with age and experience. Remember, he’s only 21 years old.
For McAvoy, like the team as a whole, there’s a high, high ceiling. He’s already well on the way up.
“I always strive to become better, to reach my full potential,” McAvoy said. “This is an opportunity for me to grow into the player that I can become. … I feel like the sky’s the limit. I’m going to continue to push myself every day, to grow and be better and do everything I can for this team.”
@JoshuaKummins
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