The recovering defenseman was able to shed his red noncontact jersey for practice, but he still has to "check boxes," said coach Jim Montgomery.
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Charlie McAvoy hit the ice for a Halloween morning practice in a familiar costume. The Bruins defenseman skated in a practice jersey that was black, not red, meaning he was cleared for contact.
“Everyone will stop making fun of me now, about my merlot jersey,” said McAvoy, who has missed the first nine games of the year after shoulder surgery.
He had a left shoulder arthroscopic stabilization procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital on June 3. The recovery time was expected to be six months, an estimate that would put No. 73 back in the lineup the first week of December.
Coach
Jim Montgomery said McAvoy is on track to return sooner than that, but not in a
Brad Marchandmonth-early sense.
He will not play in the upcoming road games against the Penguins (Tuesday), Rangers (Thursday), or Maple Leafs (Saturday). McAvoy will travel, so he is set to participate in the next full practice, in Pittsburgh Wednesday.
“He’s ahead of schedule,” Montgomery said. “He’s ahead of Dec. 1. He’s just starting in his progression. We have our internal timeline. We’re hopeful.
“I’m hopeful it’ll be before Nov. 24, to be honest. But he’s got to check boxes as we continue to progress here, and he’s just starting that now. Today was the first day where he had a little bit of contact, but everybody kind of knew it was cautionary around him.”
“He’s still far from being able to play for us,” Montgomery said. “We’re excited he’s on the ice, he’s going to get repetitions of how we want to play, because it’s a little bit different. You can tell, because he was a little bit deer-in-headlights at the beginning of practice.