How the Bruins are trying to get Charlie McAvoy back towards playing ‘to his ceiling’

The book has been out for quite some time when it comes to the areas of growth in Charlie McAvoy’s game.

For a young defenseman noted for his transition game and playmaking ability, McAvoy’s hesitancy to shoot the puck — especially when an open line or Grade-A opportunity presents itself — continues to be recurring issue in his growth as a potential franchise blueliner. 

That’s not to say that McAvoy is a black hole upon entering the O-zone. After all, the 21-year-old skater ranked ninth overall among NHL defensemen (min. 500 minutes) last season with a 5v5 primary points per 60 minutes rate of 0.92. 

But when it comes to generating scoring plays by peppering the net himself, McAvoy is still looking looking to become more reactionary when the window is there to fire a puck in on net. 

Operating from the blue line might have McAvoy’s shot distances far from the totals generated by forwards that like to scrap down low like Brett Ritchie (avg. shot distance of 25.2 feet) and Jake DeBrusk (26.4 feet), but McAvoy’s average distance of 44.6 feet is actually the second-best among Boston’s blueliners behind Matt Grzelcyk — but of those attempts, only 64.52% of them have managed to been on target.

And while he’s attempting shots from closer than the average defensemen on the Bruins, the issue with McAvoy in the O-zone has much more to do with frequency than the area in which he attempts said shots.



In terms of individual 5v5 shots per 60 minutes of play, McAvoy clocks in with a rate of 2.61. Among Bruins skaters that have logged at least 50 minutes of 5v5 TOI this year, that ranks dead last on the roster. 

For Bruce Cassidy, the issues with McAvoy’s offensive game are concerning, but can be remedied by harping on him to take those shots when he puts himself in those ideal spots. 

“As a young guy, I think his natural, best ability right now at his age is his puck moving and ability to join the rush and make some plays,” Cassidy said. “He hasn’t finished, but he’s had some looks. So I think that will balance out, I really do.”

But down the other end of the ice, the issues are a bit more concerning.



More often than not, opposing clubs have managed to land some punches against the Bruins when McAvoy is out on the ice — with McAvoy on the hook for a team-high 13 5v5 goals against so far this year. Some of that has to do with the daunting defensive assignments that McAvoy is often put in when paired next to Zdeno Chara — often against a team's top forward trio.

So, as a young player who's only had 46.39% of his faceoffs come in the offensive zone, defensive lapses are to be expected, especially given the competition he's up against. But that doesn't mean that Cassidy is going to keep the youngster away from his usual spot with Chara — especially with an injury to Torey Krug putting Boston's D corps in a bind.

"I believe Charlie has more to give," Cassidy said. "I think he’s got a tough assignment every night playing against the best players. … Defensive side of things, there’s a ways to go for Charlie, still. Because he’s playing against the best players every night. Whether we should put him in that position or not is up to debate, but we feel that he can handle it with Zee there as his partner. We got away from a bit with Grizz. An injury happened, so you kind of put that on the back burner.

"But I don’t think Charlie is unique as a young guy, to be able to come in and defend like a 10-year vet. I think there’s a learning curve. You learn guys' tendencies, you learn which ice to protect more than others, when to go. So that’s how I feel Charlie’s game has been so far. Like a lot of guys, he’s got room to grow, he’ll get better. I think he’s played well, just not to his ceiling.”

Some of it may just be the learning curves and taking his lumps along the way, but if McAvoy is going to remain up in the top defensive pair, what can the Bruins do to fix some of those defensive lapses that have allowed clubs to strike against Boston, especially during rush sequences?

"Positioning," Cassidy said. "We’re trying to — the thing we work with Charlie is working from the middle out. Some times, he has the tendency to overplay that rush in terms of allowing the guy inside ice instead of forcing him outside. So that’s one area that we’re working on. We had (Brandon) Carlo in that role with Zee, but we found that there’s a better balance in terms of the ability to break pucks out when we put Charlie there. And then Carlo has that ability to defend with Krug, so we thought that was a good matchup.”

(Staying in front of a player like Aleksander Barkov is easier said than done, but McAvoy can't let a guy get inside like that on a rush.)