As soon as Charlie McAvoy skated off the ice holding a towel to his bloody face last Saturday night, it was apparent the Boston Bruins would be without their top defenseman for a while.
How long exactly? The Bruins still don’t know.
Bruins head coach Marco Sturm announced on Wednesday that there is no timeline for McAvoy’s return to the Boston lineup after he underwent successful facial surgery this week.
Charlie McAvoy has undergone surgery. No timeline on his return.
— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) November 19, 2025
It was in the second period at Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens that a high speed puck off the stick of Noah Dobson hit McAvoy squarely in the jaw, instantly dropping him to the ice as blood pooled around him while he clutched his face.
Charlie McAvoy leaves the the game after taking a puck to the face pic.twitter.com/QlsNdINYoD
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 16, 2025
McAvoy is of course the anchor on the back end for the Bruins, leading the team with 23:46 of average time on ice through 19 games, with a rating of minus-two and 14 assists.
It is not clear exactly who severe McAvoy’s injuries are, or how invasive of a procedure it took to repair them. What is, though, is that the Bruins will have to lean heavily on their other defensemen in his absence.
“Other guys have to step up,” Sturm told reporters Wednesday in Anaheim. “That’s the bottom line. It can’t just be [Nikita] Zadorov and [Hampus] Lindholm all the time. We need more guys to step up.”
Boston recalled defenseman Michael Callahan from AHL Providence prior to embarking on a four-game road trip that will begin tonight against the Ducks at Honda Center.
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