Charlie McAvoy will be sidelined for the foreseeable future after he underwent facial surgery. But there is some good news about his status.
The expectation is that the Bruins defenseman will be OK to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported. There is still no concrete timeline for McAvoy’s return, which will depend on how he heals from the surgery.
McAvoy was one of the first six players to be named to Team USA for the Milano Cortina games.
“That is my dream of dreams to play for an Olympics,” McAvoy said in June. “The guys (at 4 Nations) were incredible. The staff was incredible. Every part of that 4 Nations was a dream come true. There’s a reason I why played in that (Canada) game, because I’m not missing this game I’ve dreamt of my whole life. It’s the aftermath of that, it cost me my year. There’s a lot of — I don’t want to say regret — just an acceptance of what happened. It sucks and I’m still coming to grips with it, but I wouldn’t trade it.”
McAvoy was injured during Boston’s win against the Montreal Canadiens when a puck deflected off his face. He fell to the ice immediately after the deflection — which left a good amount of blood on the ice — and was helped to the locker room.
Coach Marco Sturm said Wednesday that McAvoy’s surgery went well and he was recovering at home.
In 19 games for the Bruins this season, McAvoy has 14 points and has averaged 2:46 of ice time.
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