Charlie McAvoy has proven he can handle almost every responsibility the Boston Bruins give him. Marco Sturm now believes the Bruins might have given their top defenseman too many.
McAvoy played major minutes at even strength, on the power play and on the penalty kill last season. He averaged 2:48 of shorthanded ice time per game and logged a career-high 193:38 on the penalty kill. Boston plans to reduce that workload during the 2026-27 season.
“We felt it was a lot on McAvoy,” Sturm told The Boston Globe. “He did a lot, almost too much.”
That is a striking admission considering McAvoy produced the best offensive season of his NHL career while carrying those responsibilities. The defenseman finished with 11 goals and 50 assists for 61 points in 69 games. He established career highs in points, assists and power-play production while averaging a team-leading 24:23 of ice time.
McAvoy also became the first Bruins defenseman since Ray Bourque in 1995-96 to reach the 60-point mark. (nhl.com)
The Bruins are not reducing his role because of declining performance. They are trying to preserve more of his energy for the situations in which he can affect games the most.
“There’s still room in McAvoy’s game,” Sturm said. “But he needs the energy for it.”
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Will Borgen Gives Bruins A Way To Protect McAvoy
Wanting to reduce McAvoy’s penalty-killing workload is one thing. Finding another defenseman capable of absorbing those minutes is another. That was part of Boston’s motivation for acquiring Will Borgen from the New York Rangers on July 1.
The Bruins sent a 2027 second-round pick and a conditional 2028 third-round selection to New York for Borgen, who has four years remaining on a contract carrying a $4.1 million average annual value. Borgen averaged 2:13 of shorthanded ice time for the Rangers last season, nearly a full minute more than he averaged during the 2024-25 campaign. His size, reach and willingness to defend around the net give Sturm another legitimate penalty-killing option.
Bruins president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney are not expecting Borgen to replace everything McAvoy provides. His arrival should allow Boston to distribute the difficult defensive minutes more evenly. That could be particularly important because Nikita Zadorov, another potential penalty-killing leader, has led the NHL in penalty minutes in consecutive seasons. The Bruins cannot rely on Zadorov to kill a penalty if he is the player sitting in the box.
Boston’s penalty kill finished 24th in the NHL at 77 percent last season, according to Boston Hockey Now. The Bruins also were shorthanded more frequently than any other team.
The unit showed significant improvement in the playoffs, killing 23 of 24 Buffalo Sabres power plays. McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm handled much of that postseason work. Boston is not planning to remove McAvoy from the penalty kill completely. He will still be available for crucial situations and late-game assignments.
The goal is to prevent routine shorthanded minutes from draining the energy he needs to drive offense, quarterback the power play and defend against an opponent’s best players. McAvoy already demonstrated how productive he can be while carrying one of the NHL’s heaviest workloads. The Bruins now want to discover what he can do when that burden becomes slightly lighter.
For Sturm, asking less of McAvoy in one area could ultimately allow Boston to get even more from him everywhere else.
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