The Boston Bruins were not only eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres, but they will now begin next season shorthanded thanks to the careless actions of defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
In the waning minutes of their Game 6 loss at TD Garden, McAvoy was tripped by Buffalo’s Zach Benson. In retaliation, McAvoy raced toward him and delivered a vicious two-handed slash and was whistled for for a five-minute slashing major and a game misconduct. Meanwhile, Benson was given a tripping minor penalty.
McAvoy was offered an in-person hearing, and now, the National Hockey League Department of Player Safety has made their ruling.
Boston Bruins Defenseman Charlie McAvoy Has Been Suspended For Multiple Games
The NHL Department of Player Safety has announced that McAvoy will be sitting for the first six games of the 2026-27 NHL season, which begins in the fall.
In the announcement video, the DPS explains:
“Players are not excused from illegal acts just because of a prior foul by an opponent. It is also important to note that McAvoy travels some distance to purposefully track down an opponent and seek retribution by using his stick as a weapon with the knowledge that the play, game and series are all over.”
“All parties agree that this is an intentional and forceful strike delivered to an opponent’s body specifically for the purpose of retribution and message sending.”
This marks the third time in his NHL career that McAvoy has been suspended, and he’ll be forfeiting over $300,000 in salary that will be donated to the Player’s Emergency Fund.
McAvoy was suspended during the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2019 after delivering a hit to the head of former Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson, and he was also suspended four games in the 2023-24 season for an illegal hit to former Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
“You don’t want to see a guy take a chop like that at somebody else,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said postgame of the incident. “I haven’t looked at the play. I think he feels that Benson tripped him on the play and took his feet out from underneath him.”
Charlie McAvoy Declined Comment When Asked
During Boston’s end of season media availability session, McAvoy said that he was caught up in the moment and also didn’t want to comment on his potential punishment he was facing until he spoke with the NHL DPS.
“I didn’t give it too much thought at all. I was caught up in the end of the season and losing. That was more where my focus was,” McAvoy said. “With everything related to that, out of respect for the process, I’m not going to comment anything on that until I have a chance to speak with them.”
This past season, McAvoy, who helped Team USA win a historic gold medal over Team Canada in the Milan Olympics, scored 11 goals with 50 assists for 61 points, and also posted a +13 rating.
Taken by the Bruins in the first round (14th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft, McAvoy has scored 71 goals with 290 assists in 573 games, along with 491 PIM.
NHL Hits Bruins Defenseman Charlie McAvoy With Major Punishment