Injury Report: Bruins ‘24- ‘25 Injured List

Another step closer​

Charlie McAvoy shed his red, noncontact jersey for practice, taking a regular turn in rushes and drills as he takes the next step in his rehab from a shoulder injury and subsequent infection.

There is still no timeline for the defenseman to see game action.

“What I’m trying to do right now is just rehab the best I can, try and work every single day to put myself in a position to potentially play this year, and what will happen will happen,” he said. “But to be a part of the group every day to try and set an example, to try and get closer every day with these guys to build relationships, that’s what I’m identifying right now as really what I’m trying to do.”
 
He's looking good to be ready for training camp. The tank has it's full complement of crew members right now, no room for Charlie in there.
Agreed, although I’ll be more than a little annoyed if he doesn’t play for the Bruins and goes right to team USA in the worlds as soon as the season is over.
 
He's looking good to be ready for training camp. The tank has it's full complement of crew members right now, no room for Charlie in there.
Agreed. There might be some issue in there though where they want a game conditions test or two to see if he's good to go or what kind of additional rehab and training he needs in the summer so if that's the case him playing the last couple games wouldn't surprise me either.
 
Agreed, although I’ll be more than a little annoyed if he doesn’t play for the Bruins and goes right to team USA in the worlds as soon as the season is over.

I'd be a little annoyed if he goes to Worlds, but probably for a different reason.

He already got injured in a meaningless exhibition tournament this year. costing him 2 months I really don't want him going to another one . Time to focus on his health and next season
 

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have been playing without Charlie McAvoy and Mark Kastelic for several weeks, and it’s unclear if either player will return before the regular season ends.

McAvoy and Kastelic both practiced in regular sweaters on Wednesday, but interim coach Joe Sacco said there’s still no timeline for either player.

McAvoy suffered a significant AC joint injury and infection in his shoulder that landed him in the hospital for three nights during the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off.

Kastelic returned to Boston during the Bruins’ road trip out west last month with an upper-body injury. The forward has been a bright spot on the fourth line for the Bruins this season between his willingness to drop the gloves, and his five goals and nine assists are both career highs.

Pavel Zacha and Nikita Zadorov both didn’t practice on Wednesday. Sacco said it was a maintenance day for Zacha, who is expected to play Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Zadorov was excused to deal with a family matter. The defenseman’s status for Thursday’s game is unknown.
 
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Hope that stupid four nations tourney was worth it. Can’t believe the owners aren’t pushing back on that BS
We got unlucky which favored our tank greatly. Things have a way of balancing out. I thought it was a great tournament. I just wish they’d expand it to something between 8 and 16 teams.
 

Amid the somber, funereal atmosphere of the Bruins dressing room on Thursday, their season ended without a trip to the playoffs, veteran defenseman Charlie McAvoy made clear the emotional whipsaw he has endured over the two months since his 4 Nations Face-Off misfortunes in February.

Overall, McAvoy is pain-free these days, assured and encouraged he will return for September training camp with his damaged shoulder in full operating order, and eager to be one of the “pillars” to help deliver the Black and Gold to better days.

Nonetheless, the 27-year-old backliner made clear via his words and body language that the emotional roller-coaster ride and profound disappointment of the last 10 weeks has extracted a physical and psychological price.
“I don’t even feel like I played hockey this year,” said McAvoy, whose troubles cascaded in the aftermath of the 4 Nations tournament. “At times it has felt like that was last season — something separate in my head — because it’s been so long.”

After his shoulder was wrecked in a Feb. 13 tournament game against Finland — an injury that McAvoy revealed was a Grade 5 AC separation — he was injected with a drug to “numb” the pain prior to Team USA’s next game in Montreal against archrival Team Canada.

Less than 48 hours after helping back a thrilling Team USA win on Feb. 15, McAvoy entered Massachusetts General Hospital with a “rare” staph infection radiating excruciating pain in the shoulder. It turned into a three-day stay aimed at eradicating the infection and repairing the severely damaged AC.

“Mentally, emotionally, physically, I’ve gone through so much, because of that damn experience,” said McAvoy, pausing as he deliberately chose his words. “Like, it cost me my season. It cost me my sanity in a lot of ways, like, none of this has been easy. I get emotional when I talk about it. Look, yeah, it was an incredible experience and I waited my whole life to be part of something like that … but the way that it ended, and the aftermath of it, and what I had to go through, it cost me a lot more than I was willing to give. And that’s unfortunate.”

As McAvoy spoke, surrounded by a gaggle of reporters, photographers, and videographers at Warrior Arena in Brighton, a tone of anger was readily apparent in his voice.

When asked about it, he acknowledged the anger was part of his myriad emotions attached to the situation and noted it was not directed at an individual.

“I feel about every emotion you can have,” said the ex-Boston University standout, now with eight years of NHL service. “I’m not angry at any one individual. I’m angry about what happened. I’m sad about what happened, a little of the ‘Why me?’ ... as I am sure anyone would ask with what happened. So it’s a lot of different emotions. I wouldn’t say it’s just angry.

“I’m certainly not angry at individuals or anything. It’s just anger over the situation — it cost me my season. It cost me a lot. I’ve spent a lot of time, emotionally, just sitting with it because that was the reality of it. I am sitting at home with my PICC line [to treat the infection] and this and that, I can’t play and I can’t help my team. Like I said, it was like a whole other season. I can’t even remember anything before that, honestly, because I only remember what the last two months have felt like and it just hasn’t been fun.”

The source of the infection, widely speculated in the media to be connected to the pain-numbing injection, remains unknown, according to McAvoy.

“I had a rare staph infection that could have been introduced in a couple of different ways,” he said. “Obviously, it was documented that we did an injection to try and numb it. That’s not unfamiliar. It’s something all teams do and something doctors are comfortable doing. What happened to me was simply bad luck. There’s always a risk of that happening, but you don’t ever hear about it. And it happened to me. So if you want to talk about the perfect storm, and the ‘Why me?’ ... it’s not necessarily that anyone did anything wrong.”

McAvoy dismissed a reporter’s question about whether it was the needle itself that introduced the infection.

“It could have been my Under Armour, or my gear, or this or that, even the pillow at the hotel,” he mused. “It could have been anything. That’s why there’s no ill-will with anybody involved. And guess what, we can sit here and talk about it and the head of infectious diseases at Mass. General doesn’t know how it happened. So we can speculate all day, and trust me, I have. You think I don’t want to blame somebody for this? I’ve spent that time and I’ve shed those tears and the reality is, there’s no one to blame. It’s just bad luck.”

McAvoy, his shoulder to this day not game-ready, returned to skating a few weeks ago. Had the club’s playoff chances come down to having to win the final three or four games, he noted, there would have been “a serious discussion” about his availability to play. He would have his hand up, but the call ultimately would have been left for the club’s medical staff to make. He only came off antibiotics last week.
 
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