Player Discussion Charlie McAvoy IV

[GordonHowe]

The difference between a real franchise defenseman like Chara, Pronger, etc. and a good defenseman like McAvoy is night and day.

Charlie is an excellent defenseman, even the number one the Bruins projected him to be.

More than a stay at home, shut down D who can be physical (though not consistently enough to strike automatic fear into opponents), at his best he does many things well.

Again, I don't see him as a natural power play quarterback. He's a pass first guy, which is fine, but that trait is predictable, possible to neutralize, and therefore of limited value.

None of this means McAvoy isn't a top D in the NHL.

What it means, at least to me, is that his floor is solid and well established, but perhaps his ceiling is as well.

I'm not certain that's worth 9 million a year.

 

[LouJersey]

Not to drag the mood down, but that might've been the worst game for a #1 defenseman in a game seven I've ever seen. Clearly got rattled by the moment.

But they survived, largely because Lohrei and Hampus picked up the slack. hopefully the experience shocks whatever it is out of his system and he can play with confidence going forward. But he scared the shit out of me every time he had the puck.

His game 7 last year was worse.

Ray Bourque has a stretch of 4 straight first round ousters and then won 1 round in 1 of 5 seasons. Droughts happen, but I think this will be the series he turns out to be maybe the best player on the ice. He's going to be a monster.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

You were doing well till that stupid last sentence. Krug? Really? It's my opinion that Charlie is not a great PP QB. He runs it from the point. Pasta does not. You think he's doing well at it? That's fine, we see it differently.

PP getting it together was the reason we went up 3-1. He ran that unit. Deserves most of the credit for it.

Fought the puck and wasn’t good offensively 6/7 but let’s see how he does vs Florida he is probably our most important skater this series.

 

[JoeIsAStud]

Charlie was certainly one of the players who looked like he was feeling the pressure last night. Hopefully getting the win will help clear the minds of some of the players who were thinking too much out there, and let them get back to going out and playing their game

 

[Patdud]

He needs to have confidence in himself, Hampus rose to the occasion last night and looked like a no.1, wanted the puck on his stick. Chucky couldn't have had less confidence with the puck on his stick.

 

[Gee Wally]

He has a lot of talent. Whatever issue he has is in his head IMO.
Clear the cobwebs and keep it simple.

 

[PB37]

I thought he looked great in the 1st and was playing to win. I thought he was a monster in the defensive end all game but once he had the puck on his stick, made too many panic passes as the game went on and was trying to do too much.

 

[Mione134]

Got to get his head right vs Florida. He was making stupid mistakes that he never makes. Not shooting. Not passing. Looking a bit like he was gripping his stick to hard, not wanting to make a mistake.

New series. New slate. Get back to the Chuckie we know.

 

[ranold26]

He has a lot of talent. Whatever issue he has is in his head IMO.
Clear the cobwebs and keep it simple.

I think he was frustrated with how the team was playing, decided to try to lead and take charge, which led to trying too hard and overthinking/overanalyzing, which led to counterproductive play etc.
I think we’ll see something different this next round.

 

[goldenblack]

Charlie is a top 10 NHL Dman

In this thread we complain about it

 

[Mad-Marcus]

For the money we expect more and should. His offense comes out of opportunity, He is not the kind of player that can force his will on the offensive side of the game. When he forces it adversely effects his defensive game, due to uncharacteristic mistakes. He's not Bourque, Chara, or Park.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

More than a stay at home, shut down D who can be physical (though not consistently enough to strike automatic fear into opponents), at his best he does many things well.
Again, I don't see him as a natural power play quarterback. He's a pass first guy, which is fine, but that trait is predictable, possible to neutralize, and therefore of limited value.
None of this means McAvoy isn't a top D in the NHL.
What it means, at least to me, is that his floor is solid and well established, but perhaps his ceiling is as well.

I'm not certain that's worth 9 million a year.

I hope not.

 

[I am Bettman]

I thought he was pretty good last night, he was one of the only guys who I thought showed effort in games 5 and 6. Passes were a little off but whatever, he was good on defense

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Charlie is a top 10 NHL Dman

In this thread we complain about it

Not this season he wasn't.

 

[Alicat]

He has a lot of talent. Whatever issue he has is in his head IMO.
Clear the cobwebs and keep it simple.

Doing the stats and he's playing an avg of 26:51 a night after 7 games. Hampus is next with 22:20. The rest of the D needs to help so the minutes start to even out back there.

He also leads the team in hits and blocks. Charlie's trying to do too much and it is showing up in how he's playing.

As long as he doesn't try to decapitate OEL again, I think the Florida series suits him. He's got 3 goals and 1 assist over 4 games this season.

 

[Colt.45Orr]

Playing 1/2 playoff game in 2024 will lead to mental errors. He's a stud

 

[NDiesel]

Playing 1/2 playoff game in 2024 will lead to mental errors. He's a stud

Yeah I just can't agree that he's looked bad. He's a horse, if you expect perfection from anyone not named Bergeron you're never going to be happy.

Also offense just isn't his game, I'd love for him to just work on one timers and quick shots through traffic all offseason to add that element.

 

[SPV]

When I was younger in my teens, my dad used to come watch the game with me and my friends, and he would rip Bourque for giving up the puck a lot. Last night I came full circle as I was tearing down Mac in front of my teenage son.

Maybe it’s a generational thing , my dad watched Orr, so Bourque wasn’t Orr. We watched Bourque, and Mac isn’t Bourque. LOL.

 

[RiverbottomChuck]

Mac is great and he will figure it out and I say this as a fan but I think the best description of that series for Mac was Wile E Coyote, tried to plan perfect and did a lot but just fumbled in key moments. On to the next series all is forgiven.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

We're crapping on Charlie after the core 4 did almost nothing for a series? Yikes.

The B's D was smothering. And he was a big part of that.

Bruins D wasn't "smothering". In addition McAvoy was victimized on all 3 GWG.

 

[elMatador]

The last time he scored a PP goal in the playoffs was game 1 of the Stanley Cup final in 2019, that's 5 years ago.
The last time he scored a goal in the playoffs was game 1 of round 2 in 2021, that's 3 years ago.
His reluctance to shoot the damn thing is ridiculous.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Charlie should not be running a PP. I also want to see him to step up into his salary- go from very good to great. He's very good right now.

This is mostly how I see it too. In my head I have a category for the very top elite defenders - peak Hedman, Josi, Fox, Makar, maybe Heiskanen. Then there's that next, bigger group, who are still great players but not quite at the top of their class. And McAvoy's somewhere in there for me, with the likes of Doughty, Ekblad and Toews. Nothing wrong with that, and really in this day and age, for sub-$10 mil p.a. that's probably quite acceptable from a salary point of view too, much as you always like to see more.

Does he have that extra gear though that separates out the real stud defenders, especially in playoffs? He can take on the workload, he's solid. But that little bit of either playmaking magic or sheer D-zone dominance just hasn't been demonstrated yet when it counts most. I lean towards thinking that perhaps we'll never see it, but at 26 there's still plenty of time and every series presents a new opportunity. I don't think his offensive game is ever going to really blossom much beyond what he's shown already, but the purely defensive and transitional aspects, and his decision-making and ability to read the play, certainly can.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

This is mostly how I see it too. In my head I have a category for the very top elite defenders - peak Hedman, Josi, Fox, Makar, maybe Heiskanen. Then there's that next, bigger group, who are still great players but not quite at the top of their class. And McAvoy's somewhere in there for me, with the likes of Doughty, Ekblad and Toews. Nothing wrong with that, and really in this day and age, for sub-$10 mil p.a. that's probably quite acceptable from a salary point of view too, much as you always like to see more.

Does he have that extra gear though that separates out the real stud defenders, especially in playoffs? He can take on the workload, he's solid. But that little bit of either playmaking magic or sheer D-zone dominance just hasn't been demonstrated yet when it counts most. I lean towards thinking that perhaps we'll never see it, but at 26 there's still plenty of time and every series presents a new opportunity. I don't think his offensive game is ever going to really blossom much beyond what he's shown already, but the purely defensive and transitional aspects, and his decision-making and ability to read the play, certainly can.

There's still hope.

First Norris wins:

Bourque - 26 years old
Chelios -27
Lidstrom - 30
Blake - 28
Keith - 26
Doughty - 26
Hedman - 27
Jossi - 29

Bobby Orr -26 (last of 8)

 

[BruinDust]

This is mostly how I see it too. In my head I have a category for the very top elite defenders - peak Hedman, Josi, Fox, Makar, maybe Heiskanen. Then there's that next, bigger group, who are still great players but not quite at the top of their class. And McAvoy's somewhere in there for me, with the likes of Doughty, Ekblad and Toews. Nothing wrong with that, and really in this day and age, for sub-$10 mil p.a. that's probably quite acceptable from a salary point of view too, much as you always like to see more.

Does he have that extra gear though that separates out the real stud defenders, especially in playoffs? He can take on the workload, he's solid. But that little bit of either playmaking magic or sheer D-zone dominance just hasn't been demonstrated yet when it counts most. I lean towards thinking that perhaps we'll never see it, but at 26 there's still plenty of time and every series presents a new opportunity. I don't think his offensive game is ever going to really blossom much beyond what he's shown already, but the purely defensive and transitional aspects, and his decision-making and ability to read the play, certainly can.

All the true top end D-men get Hart trophy consideration at points in their careers. Until he gets that sort of consideration, he's in the 2nd tier of D IMO. Still a legitimate No.1 D-man, but that definition has widen over the past 10-15 years.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

This is mostly how I see it too. In my head I have a category for the very top elite defenders - peak Hedman, Josi, Fox, Makar, maybe Heiskanen. Then there's that next, bigger group, who are still great players but not quite at the top of their class. And McAvoy's somewhere in there for me, with the likes of Doughty, Ekblad and Toews. Nothing wrong with that, and really in this day and age, for sub-$10 mil p.a. that's probably quite acceptable from a salary point of view too, much as you always like to see more.

Does he have that extra gear though that separates out the real stud defenders, especially in playoffs? He can take on the workload, he's solid. But that little bit of either playmaking magic or sheer D-zone dominance just hasn't been demonstrated yet when it counts most. I lean towards thinking that perhaps we'll never see it, but at 26 there's still plenty of time and every series presents a new opportunity. I don't think his offensive game is ever going to really blossom much beyond what he's shown already, but the purely defensive and transitional aspects, and his decision-making and ability to read the play, certainly can.

I would add Quinn Hughes to the list of Dmen more impactful than McAvoy.