Alex Ovechkin impressed with Bruins rookie Charlie McAvoy

Even though Charlie McAvoy is fresh out of college, he’s still going to school.

The rookie defenseman for the Boston Bruins will experience a season of firsts in the NHL, and he certainly learned a lot during Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at TD Garden.



McAvoy learned first-hand why Ovechkin is considered one of the best players in the world. Almost every time he touched the ice, McAvoy was looking right at him. At times, he was looking at No. 8’s back. After the game, Ovechkin said he was impressed with the 19-year-old defenseman.

“He’s going to have a great future – obviously,” Ovechkin said. “He has lots of skill, great skater. You have to play more games to feel the rhythm, feel the players (around the league). And, playing with a player like Zdeno (Chara), (McAvoy’s) going to be fine and he’ll get lots of lessons and experience and he’s going to be a good player.”

Ovechkin simply overpowered McAvoy on more than a few occasions, but admitted he wasn’t seeking him out.

“No, not really,” he said. “It’s a game situation when you have to go chase the puck, or you have to find the puck in different areas. You can see how we scored a goal, it was a big battle and we created a chance against him.”

Chara has battled against Ovechkin countless times during their respective careers. They respect each other and those battles are fun to watch. It’s the same when Chara squares off against the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby. Chara has tutored plenty of young defensemen during his career and McAvoy is the latest student.

The two spoke prior to Saturday’s game and Chara had some words of advice for the rookie. After the game, Chara believes McAvoy will learn from that experience playing against Ovechkin.

“It’s a challenge that’s for sure, every night,” Chara told BostonSportsJournal.com. “It’s not obviously one player. You can obviously emphasize one player on every team that you play against, but they had a pretty deep team. Their first two lines are strong scoring lines. It’s a challenge every night and you have to pick your spots when you’re going to join the rush or pinch to make a play. These guys are waiting for you to make a mistake so they can go on the offense. For the most part (McAvoy’s) doing a great job.”

Chara’s advice was simple.

“The best thing to do is focus on the learning process – keep your eyes and ears open,” Chara said. “Anything that you can keep in your head and memorize a few tendencies from certain players is huge and it goes a long way. Mistakes will happen to everybody, not just young players. It’s a game of mistakes but you just got to keep going and keep playing and get ready for the next shift.”

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said he thought McAvoy’s game improved as the game progressed.

“He got upset, pissed off, after the first period,” Cassidy said. “He got bumped off the puck and you see he came with a little more aggression all over the ice in one-on-one battles. He (also) had a shot blocked that came back at us, so it got compounded a little hit here, but I don’t have a lot of issues with Charlie. He figures it out in a hurry and he’s a good player. This (game) is just another one that he’ll put in the (memory bank) and learn from and get better.”

Playing with Chara, especially against the Capitals and Ovechkin, McAvoy will get plenty of ice time against those elite matchups. He understands the responsibilities and he’s learning from these types of experiences.

“I’m thankful for it,” he said. “It raises my level. My compete level has to go up and it does. You try to use your body position for a guy like that and there were a couple of times where he used his and it’s tough to adjust to that, but it’s a learning curve and he’s a phenomenal player and you try to contain a guy like that and just do the best you can.”

By the end of the season, if McAvoy continues to progress, he’ll be on the Dean’s list by April.