Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is entering the final year of his current contract, a three-year deal signed back in 2019 that has paid him $4.9 million per season.
The 23-year-old’s next contract will bring with it a significant raise. If that wasn’t already clear from McAvoy’s steady improvement on the ice and fifth-place finish in Norris Trophy voting last season, then it definitely became clear this summer when a handful of the NHL’s top defensemen signed massive new deals.
To recap, the following deals were signed just this offseason:
-Seth Jones, Blackhawks: 8 years, $9.5 million average annual value
-Darnell Nurse, Oilers: 8 years, $9.25 million AAV
-Miro Heiskanen, Stars: 8 years, $8.45 million AAV
-Dougie Hamilton, Devils: 7 year, $9 million AAV
-Zach Werenski, Blue Jackets: 6 years, $9.58 million AAV
-Cale Makar, Avalanche: 6 years, $9 million AAV
Not every situation is exactly the same obviously. Jones had just been traded and would have been an unrestricted free agent after this season. Nurse also would have been a UFA after this year. Hamilton was already a UFA.
Heiskanen, Werenski and Makar were similar to McAvoy in that all would have been restricted free agents, still under some measure of team control. This was the second contract for Heiskanen and Makar, while Werenski was going on his third -- same as McAvoy.
Regardless, it’s pretty easy to ballpark the next contract for an elite No. 1 defenseman like McAvoy: It’s going to be long-term, and it will likely be for at least $9 million per year. Heiskanen was the only one in this group who came in under $9 million, but McAvoy is better than Heiskanen. In fact, there's a strong case to be made that McAvoy is better than everyone in this group with the possible exception of Makar.
So, is McAvoy thinking about his looming payday as the 2021-22 season begins? According to him, no. McAvoy on Saturday acknowledged the league-wide D spending spree and said he was happy for those players, but made it clear that his focus is solely on the season at hand.
“No, just playing hockey. That’s it. That’s it,” McAvoy said. “You see all those D-men, I’m very happy for them. I know quite a few of them and I couldn’t be happier for them. They’re all very well deserved. But I’m excited about this year, excited about the group we have. Being back together, seeing everyone is always so awesome. I feel like we’ve had a good few days here to start, and I just want to keep building on it.”
McAvoy could end up pushing his value even higher if he puts up more points, perhaps the only area of his game that isn’t quite at elite levels yet. And it looks like he’ll have a good chance to do it, as he served as the quarterback on the Bruins’ top power-play unit at Saturday’s practice.
McAvoy was used more on the second power-play unit for most of last season, but he took over on the top unit in the playoffs and was highly effective, tallying eight power-play assists in 11 postseason games. It appears that job will be his for the taking right from the start this season, and McAvoy is looking forward to the opportunity if that is the case.
“Well, I had a lot of fun playing with those guys last year,” McAvoy said. “Obviously they’re world-class players, so I enjoyed that. So long as I’m back there, I want to be reliable and make the plays I’m supposed to make and get those guys the puck in positions where they can show their skill and make good plays and I can complement them well.
“So that’s what I’m looking to do and build confidence more and more as we do it. Last year it was good. It was easy to play with confidence with them. Obviously the way they move the puck and have such good chemistry, you just want to be a complement to them. That’s my goal, to be reliable and make the plays I’m supposed to make.”
At five-on-five, McAvoy is likely to see time with both Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort. So far he has seen time exclusively with Forbort during training camp drills, but that could be in part because McAvoy has already spent plenty of time with Grzelcyk while Forbort was just acquired this offseason.
McAvoy and Grzelcyk played 342 minutes together at five-on-five last season and the Bruins outscored their opponents 20-7 and had 67.7% of shots on goal during that time. The 6-foot-4 Forbort is a much different style player than the 5-foot-9 Grzelcyk. While he won’t bring as much in the offensive zone, the Bruins are hoping his defensive play and physical presence will complement McAvoy well.
McAvoy said he thinks things are going well with Forbort so far.
“Good. It’s been a lot of fun,” McAvoy said. “Lot of talk, of course, to try to acclimate. He seems to be a great defender, so he’s easy to play with in the D-zone drills. We’ve been moving the puck well when we get into the five-on-five stuff. It’s been fun, it’s been easy, and I’ve enjoyed it.”
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