The last time Charlie McAvoy fielded questions from the media around his locker at Warrior Ice Arena, he didn’t pull any punches when asked of his desire to remain in Boston for the foreseeable future.
Just two days removed from Boston’s crushing Game 7 loss to the St. Louis Blues on home ice, the 21-year-old defenseman was still raw from what transpired out on the TD Garden ice. But, when glancing ahead at an offseason full of uncertainty as a restricted free agent, McAvoy was frank.
“This is home for me now and I live here in the summer,” McAvoy said. “I love it here. I want to be here forever. I think losing in the manner that we did, I just want to win so bad, just to be a part of it. It’s just a city full of champions. Everyone here is winning and they all won at one point. I just want to be part of that so freaking bad.”
If McAvoy’s intentions weren’t clear enough in his words, he certainly backed up those intentions upon glancing over the fine print on Sunday.
It might have taken longer than all parties intended, but after missing the first two days of on-ice work at training camp, McAvoy rejoined his teammates in Brighton on Sunday morning, fresh off of inking a new, three-year contract extension that will feature an annual cap hit of $4.9 million
Yep, $4.9 million. Each season.
And while McAvoy’s contract follows a similar model as the “bridge deal” that Zach Werenski signed last week, the case could be made that Boston’s deal is an even better coup for a Bruins club looking to maximize its current title window while avoiding cap hell.
So far, when it comes to retaining said talent, Don Sweeney and his staff have done a masterful job.
“It puts Charlie in a situation where he can take this platform and really launch himself into the player we all believe he is and will become, both on and off the ice,” Sweeney said of the current structure of McAvoy’s contract. “For us, I think it’s a good compromise, a middle ground that allows him to take it wherever he’s capable of taking it and the Bruins will be there when he does.”
A “bridge deal” would seem to be more of a compromise than an advantageous financial decision for an NHL organization, given that said player would likely be setting himself up for a massive payday in the next 3-4 years.
But given the Bruins’ situation, the luxury of having a top-pairing skater like McAvoy only count as $4.9 million against the cap for the following three seasons is huge from a team-building perspective, especially when factoring in McAvoy’s expected progression in years 3-5 of his promising career.
Just a few days removed from the Maple Leafs throwing $65.3 million at Mitch Marner and committing $40.3 million of its $81.5 million in total cap space in just four players (Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander), the Bruins now have McAvoy under contract for under $5 million — and their top line of Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak on the books for just $19.5 million in 2019-20.
Sheesh.
Fair to say, McAvoy is going to be worth much, much more than the $4.9 million he’s set to command, as soon as this season. Hell, that might even be considered an underpay if he was given that for his efforts last season.
Even if he was limited to just 54 games, the BU product still averaged 22:10 of ice time — including 24:30 over 23 playoff bouts. When it came to offensive impact, the Bruins fared much better in terms of shot rates when McAvoy was deployed on the ice, with Grade-A areas around the slot peaking above the league average in attempts during his 980 minutes of 5v5 TOI.
Unlike more offensive-minded blueliners like Werenski (3 years, $15 million) or Ivan Provorov (six years, $40.5 million), McAvoy's impact is also felt down the other end of the ice, with Boston's efforts in terms of reducing opposing team's shot rates also improving when the young defenseman was out patrolling the blue line.
Add in the fact that McAvoy ranked in the 90th percentile of skaters in terms of possession entry percentage allowed in the D zone last season, to go along with 0.92 primary points per 60 minutes rate in 5v5 play *in other words, he's averaging at least a primary point (goal or primary assist) over 60 minutes of 5v5 play*, and McAvoy is everything you want in a budding franchise defenseman.
In fact, that 0.92 P1/60 rate ranks ninth overall among all NHL defensemen last season (min. 500 5v5 minutes played). The only skaters in front of him? Kris Letang, Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie, Brent Burns, Mark Giordano, Shea Weber, Vince Dunn and John Carlson. Good company.
And he's only counting $4.9 million against the cap this year. And the next. And the next after that.
“I think the last time I commented on him, at first, I remember saying he was (Drew) Doughty-like and it caused a bit of a holdout here, so I’ve got to be careful," Bruce Cassidy said. "I’ve been warned. How do I see his game growing? Match-up guy. He continues to be that with (Zdeno Chara) but I think he’ll grow in that area and get stronger physically. … I think he’ll score more, because I think he will develop more of an attack mentality, shooting mentality. Those are two areas I think his game will grow. The rest, I think, is composure, his compete. They’re there every night. Hockey sense, a lot of that doesn’t change.”
By keeping McAvoy's cap hit well below market value, Sweeney did note on Sunday that Boston should have enough cap space as is (around $3.2 million) to re-sign its lone remaining RFA in Brandon Carlo. And even if the money is tight, Boston does have a bit of a temporary relief option in long-term injured reserve (LTIR), which the club can use, given the fact that both John Moore and Kevan Miller will not be cleared by the time the regular season gets underway on October 3.
Now, this three-year deal does have its benefits for McAvoy, especially given the fact that his base salary will jump up to $7.3 million during the 2021-22 season. While he will still be an RFA by the time his contract is up in three years, that $7.3 million at least guarantees him that amount if he was to accept a qualifying offer from the Bruins. Of course, he could also go to arbitration that summer, or — the more preferable option for both parties — a new, long-term contract can be agreed to.
McAvoy's $4.9 million cap hit will come in handy now for Boston, but by the time the defenseman is due for a pay bump, Boston's cap situation could very well be much more flexible, given that contracts such as David Krejci's ($7.25 million), David Backes ($6 million) will be off the books, while a new TV deal come 2021-22 could lead to a drastically higher cap ceiling.
When asked to divulge his secrets on the "art of negotiation," Sweeney reiterated the need for "finding a place where both parties feel good about moving forward.”
Both parties seem to have checked that off with this new deal — to put it lightly.
For the Bruins, they now have their top D-man locked up for the next three years, while remaining out of cap hell both now and potentially ahead over the next two seasons.
For McAvoy, a three-year deal brings the promise of an even larger raise in short order, while staying in a city the Long Island native now calls home.
And for both parties, a common goal still remains in reach — winning just one more game in 2019-20.
“We have an experience that’s an unbelievable experience — that some people play 20 years and they’re not fortunate enough to get there," McAvoy said of last year's result. "That’s something that we have and I’m very grateful for it. We can’t go back and change anything now, but we have the future here in front of us ... I think overall as a player, I think I always strive to become better, to grow in all aspects. To reach my full potential, I think as Don stated, this is an opportunity for me to grow into the player I want to become. … My goal is to go out and become the best hockey player I can be. To grow into one of the best defensemen, hopefully in the league. I feel like the sky is the limit."
Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick, Corsica, Corey Sznajder, Sean Tierney and HockeyViz.