Every team in the NHL faces peaks and valleys during an 82-game season. However, Chicago defenseman Charlie McAvoy, now in his eighth NHL season with the Boston Bruins, is experiencing a different kind of challenge this year.

A New Kind of Adversity

In recent seasons, the Bruins have enjoyed early success, often referred to as winning the “October Stanley Cup.” This year, the team started 8-9-3, a stark contrast to their usual dominant beginning.

“Every year we’ve sort of won that ‘October Stanley Cup,’ being the best team out of the gate, at least it’s been like that the past couple of years,” McAvoy told Daily Faceoff. “It’s definitely been a learning experience this year. With a lot of turnover in the summer and coming into this year with a different team — honestly, the biggest thing is at the beginning of the year, the turnover in coach — the team going up and down, and up and down — sort of finding the mental ways to reset your ways to stay even keel, even when things are going good and bad.”

Rising to Leadership

At 27, McAvoy is entering the prime of his career and is in his second year as an alternate captain for the Original Six franchise. His role on the ice has evolved significantly over time. As the veteran players like Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci have departed, McAvoy’s leadership responsibilities have increased.

“I think you can add it up to just the turnover in guys,” McAvoy commented. “We’ve always had a veteran group, whether it was Hallsy [Taylor Hall] or [Nick] Foligno, guys like that who are around. Then we had turnover, and last year, it was Shatty [Kevin Shattenkirk] and Riemer [James van Riemsdyk], those are 1,000-game guys, Shatty was damn near close. There was always a lot of experience; now we get it with Lindy [Elias Lindholm] and Z [Nikita Zadorov] and some other guys that have come, but I think there’s been added responsibility. It’s fine, I feel like I’m able to put it on my plate, and for me, it’s mostly just about showing and just working at it and leading by example.”

Adapting to Change

The start of the 2024-25 campaign presented a different challenge for the Bruins. The team’s offensive firepower has been lacking, affecting their ability to score goals consistently.

“Finding ways to win has been a little bit different,” McAvoy observed. “We’ve obviously had a lack of offensive firepower this year, and we felt that across the board as a team.”

However, the Bruins have adapted by focusing on their defensive game. With two strong goalies and a solid defense corps, the team’s reliance on team defense has proven successful.

“When we’re unable to get it done we know what we need to do to win. And that’s team defense and that’s our goalies. We have a heck of a D-core and our forwards are defensively very responsible when we want to be. When we play the right way to our identity — we can keep the puck out of our net. We have two world-class goalies, so we know how we’re going to win games and we know what it looks like to get success and for us it’s all about defense. I think it makes our life easy, we know going into every game that that’s how we have to play.”

Lessons Learned

Looking back at the beginning of the season, McAvoy has found both the good and the bad. The adversity faced early on has proven invaluable, teaching the team resilience and adaptability.

“This year, to have the trials and struggles that we went through, I think it was good. When you’re in it — you’re like, ‘This is really bad,’ and you’re feeling really down. That was one of the things that we tried to talk about: OK, we’re just going at it differently this year.”

The team’s recent performance under new coach Joe Sacco has been promising. Since his arrival, the Bruins have accumulated the fourth most points in the NHL with a 12-7-1 record.

“I think history shows that there’s a lot of teams — a lot of good teams that have found their footing this time of year and grown that have had bad starts. I think that’s just one of the ways to find a positive in it, but yeah I think we found our identity, we know what we need to do and now we have a little bit of familiarity. We’re almost halfway here, so we know each other a lot better now and this team is only going to continue to get closer.”

Moving Forward

Despite the initial struggles, the Bruins remain a formidable force in the league. With a strong defensive structure and the leadership of players like Charlie McAvoy, they are poised for a successful remainder of the season.

As McAvoy reflects on the season, he emphasizes the importance of learning and growing from adversity. “The biggest thing is at the beginning of the year, the turnover in coach — the team going up and down, and up and down — sort of finding the mental ways to reset your ways to stay even keel, even when things are going good and bad.”

The journey of the Boston Bruins in the 2024-25 season serves as a testament to resilience and the power of team unity. As the team continues to improve, McAvoy’s leadership will be crucial in navigating the challenges ahead.