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Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy lands six-game suspension for slashing Sabres’ Zach Benson
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- Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy lands six-game suspension for slashing Sabres’ Zach Benson
Bruins' Charlie McAvoy lands six-game suspension for slashing Sabres' Zach Benson appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Boston Bruins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round. In the sixth and final game, Bruins star defenseman Charlie McAvoy slashed Sabres forward Zach Benson and has now been served a suspension. McAvoy will miss the first six games of the 2026-27 regular season due to this play from Game 6.
McAvoy was brought in for an in-person hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety, which opens up the possibility for a longer suspension. On Tuesday, the suspension was announced by DoPS.
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In the video released by the Department of Player Safety, the narrator says, "All parties agree that this is an intentional and forceful strike delivered to an opponent's body specifically for the purpose of retribution and message sending." They also indicated that McAvoy's history, two suspensions and one fine, played into this decision.
McAvoy had a bounce-back season for the Bruins in 2025-26, scoring 61 points in 69 games. That was a dramatic improvement from a disappointing 23-point season in just 50 games the year before. He was also a key part of Team USA's Gold Medal-winning squad at the Milan Olympics .
McAvoy will only be eligible for 78 of the 84 Bruins games next season. But that would require him to stay healthy, and he has not played 75 games since the 2021-22 season, when he was just 24 years old. The Bruins are counting on their best defenseman staying healthy, and starting the season on the shelf for different reasons does not help.
The Bruins played the entire 2025-26 season without a captain after the trade of Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers . McAvoy has been an alternate captain for years and could be named the captain before next season. It would be odd to debut a new captain in the seventh game of the season, but that could be the reality.
