The Boston Bruins are looking good this year. Along with the Hart Trophy candidate Patrice Bergeron on their side, the team boasts of having a great infusion of talent, including Rick Nash. On top of that, one of the Bruins’ driving forces this year has been Charlie McAvoy. The rookie ace defenseman is great at pushing the pace and is able to throw his weight around. His teammates are duly impressed.
Left winger Brand Marchand said, “When you have a D-man that can move the puck the way he can and see the ice the way he does, it’s very specially, especially at his age.” Despite having a long way to go, Marchand notes that McAvoy has already displayed that he is a dominant player in the league. “He’s going to be a big player for a long time,” Marchand adds.
Prior to turning pro, McAvoy spent two years with the Boston University Terriers. Right after his transition, he saw his first NHL action during the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. Even then, he looked rather good in his performance, and has shown growth this year.
So far, McAvoy has played in tandem with legend Zdeno Chara in what seems to be a perfect fit. Despite being battle scarred in the NHL, 40-year old Chara is still playing quite solidly and leads Boston in the most number of minutes on ice per game. One of the major reason why Chara is still able to play that long is due to McAvoy and his success at carrying the puck. McAvoy, himself, logs more than 20 minutes of time on ice, and leads in all NHL rookies in terms of workload.
Despite his commendable performance, McAvoy has not yet become the favorite. The title goes to Matt Barzal who plays with the New York Islanders in terms of scoring. Yanni Gourde of Tampa Bay, and Brock Boeser of Vancouver have also lit up the score sheets.
