Charlie McAvoy is heading to the 2026 Olympics.
The Bruins defenseman was one of the “first six” players named to Team USA’s preliminary roster for the Milano Cortina games. A Long Island native, McAvoy has long said it’s a goal to represent the United States at the Olympics.
He’ll be the latest in a long line of Boston University players like Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, Keith Tkachuk, and Chris Drury to play for Team USA.
“It would be a real honor to be on that with my name somewhere down the line,” McAvoy said in February. “That’s the one that you dream of. That’s absolutely the ultimate goal.”
McAvoy injured his shoulder during the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off in February, derailing his Bruins season, but said the injury wouldn’t deter him from representing his country moving forward.
“That is my dream of dreams to play for an Olympics,” McAvoy said. “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’s Bruins teammates David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha were named to the Czechia team on Monday, too.
On Team USA, McAvoy will be joined by fellow former Terrier Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes, Austin Matthews, Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk.