Since bursting onto the Boston Bruins roster during the 2016-17 playoffs, Charlie McAvoy has been regarded as the future building block for the B’s blue line. McAvoy averaged 30 points per season up until the 2020-21 season, where he blossomed into a 50-point-per-year defenseman. McAvoy has been stellar over the last three seasons…or has he?
Charlie McAvoy by the Stats
Charlie McAvoy’s rookie season was 2017-18, where he played 63 games with the Bruins, tallied 32 points and averaged 22 minutes of ice time. Since then, he has compiled a whopping 454 games played with 277 points, a +144 rating, and averaging 23:24 TOI.
Ranking Amongst Active NHL Defenseman
- Points Per Game – 16th – 0.61 PPG
- Plus/Minus – 2nd – +144
- Power Play Goals – 21st – 12
- Power Play Assists – 25th – 60
- Hits – 7th – 822
- Blocks – 14th – 802
- Takeaways – 22nd – 193
- Giveaways – 17th – 377 (this is a positive, golf rules)
Contract Comparables
Briefly covering the stats above here, McAvoy currently ranks 4th in Salary AAV among active defensemen and has only cracked the top 10 in 3 categories: Plus/Minus, Hits, and Giveaways. (giveaways having golf rules, he’s actually ranked 9th).
If you take a deeper dive into the stats year by year, you can see Charlie McAvoy’s stats decline over the last couple of seasons. The real question is, what could cause that decline?
Getting McAvoy Back On Track
When Charlie McAvoy broke into the league, he played with one of the best defensive defensemen to ever take the ice, Zdeno Chara. This gave McAvoy a lot of ice to create plays and jump into the rush, knowing Chara would be there on the defensive end to take care of any mistakes.
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As the years have continued to tick by, McAvoy has seen the loss of outstanding defensive teammates in Chara and Bergeron, leaving him with more defensive responsibility. What seems obvious to me is that McAvoy has struggled as he continues to be relied on for heavier minutes and responsibilities. For an offensively gifted defenseman, being a defense-first player sometimes just doesn’t work.
As the Bruins have been building their blue line, offensively gifted defensemen have been at the forefront of Don Sweeney’s acquisitions. Starting with Hampus Lindholm and now the rumors are swirling about Jakob Chychrun and Shea Theodore being involved in Linus Ullmark trade discussions, but is that really what the Bruins need more of?
The Boston Bruins strength over the last two seasons has been superb defensive play and stellar goaltending from Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. Now that they’re looking to deal Linus Ullmark prior to the Swayman extension, is it time for the Bruins to change their priorities on the back end?
My Opinion
Charlie McAvoy hasn’t been the same since he took over as the head of the Bruins’ defensive core, Matt Grzelcyk riding shotgun on McAvoy’s pairing just isn’t the right fit. So what do the Bruins do to fix the problem and get McAvoy back on track?
The Boston Bruins should be going out on the Free Agent market to find a stay-at-home, shutdown-style defenseman to play with Charlie McAvoy.
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With players like Chris Tanev and Ryan Lindgren on the UFA market, there are some options for the right fit. Both players have played on top pairings with extremely talented, offensive-minded teammates before; they’d feel right at home with McAvoy.
Is going out to sign Ryan Lindgren a sexier move than acquiring Jakob Chychrun or Shea Theodore? No, definitely not. However, the other side of that coin scares me the most…Charlie McAvoy is becoming the shutdown defender, and the Boston Bruins are paying a 30-40 point defenseman $9.5m per year. McAvoy paid as if he is one of the best defensemen in the NHL, and the sad fact right now is he is not.
I’ll leave you with the question that led to this article… Who is the worst contract on the Boston Bruins? If you don’t agree with my opinion, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the worst contract on the Bruins roster in the comments below.
Season 4. Episode 37. Gimme a J. Gimme a G. – Bruins Benders Podcast
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McAvoy is not a 9 million dollar defenseman. He plateaued in 20-21. He needs help, seriously. Lindholm has dropped off as well. Carlo has 7 documented concussions in his career as well. Lohrei will be fine but without a serious upgrade at least 2 defenseman who can play shut down minutes and get the puck out of the zone this team is going nowhere.