Boston Bruins defender Charlie McAvoy wore so many different logos on his chest in 2016-17, it’s fair to wonder if he played a few shifts forgetting which jersey he was wearing.
First came 38 games for Boston University, followed by a whirlwind conclusion to the campaign that included seven games for Team USA at the World Junior Championship, eight games for his country at the World Championship, four tilts with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, and of course, six games in the NHL during Boston’s brief playoff run.
A fair bit of moving around, but still not quite an NHL workload, according to McAvoy’s general manager.
“Roughly 60 games,” Don Sweeney told The Boston Globe‘s Kevin Dupont on Saturday. “That’s three-quarters of the way through the season (in the NHL), and if you’re talking playoffs, then (60) is just past halfway.”
After debuting in about as high pressure an environment as one could draw up – a tough first-round playoff series against the rival Ottawa Senators – McAvoy will play his first full NHL season in 2017-18. While the increased number of games is sure to be a fairly taxing change for the 19-year-old, Sweeney predicts far more adjustments will be needed as well.
“The league itself will test young players,” said Sweeney. “You have to get your pace up and recover. There’s no pacing yourself. In college, you were able to pace yourself, play in all situations, play 30 minutes in some games. He’s just proven he can play 25 minutes in the NHL. But in a best-case scenario, we don’t want him playing that much. We want him to blend into our group, and who knows what he plays … but I think he’s a 20-minute guy, depending how games break on the special-teams side of things.”
McAvoy logged 26:12 minutes of ice-time per game during the Bruins’ six-game post-season stint, the second-highest average on the team, after captain Zdeno Chara. He also led all Bruins blue liners in points through those tilts, registering three assists.
That said, Sweeney is well aware of the difference between a brief, impassioned playoff run and the grind of an 82-game regular season.
“I gave him that cautionary tale,” Sweeney told Dupont. “The other thing I wanted him to understand is, ‘Get your feet on the ground this summer … it’s been a bit of a whirlwind … you’ve left school, you went to Providence, you ended up in the NHL playoffs, then the World Championship. This is all new. You’ve dipped your toe, but the whole league, and what you’re entering, is all new, you’ve got some learning to do.’
“That includes everything, how to spend spare time, travel, even food. It’s an adjustment.”
Sweeney understands that transition well, having made the jump from college hockey to the big leagues himself. The longtime Bruins defenceman started his hockey career with Harvard University before moving up to the AHL for 63 games, and the NHL soon after.
Given that experience, it’s safe to assume Sweeney will be keeping a close eye on his young blue liners in 2017-18, with both McAvoy and 20-year-old Brandon Carlo set to play key roles for Boston’s back end.
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