Bruins Defenseman Offered In-Person Hearing with Department of Player Safety

Though the season is over, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will have an in-person hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety (DoPS), the league announced on Saturday afternoon.

While racing to the puck, Sabres forward Zach Benson took McAvoy down with a slewfoot with 1:31 left in the Bruins’ season. The Bruins trailed the Sabres 4-1 in Game 6 when the play occurred.

The play drew an immediate reaction from McAvoy, who went hard into the boards, got up, and took a swing at Benson, connecting right across the Sabres’ logo on his sweater.

McAvoy was charged with a five-minute major for slashing. He also received a game misconduct and did not come back out for the handshake line.

After the game, McAvoy disapproved of the slewfoot.

“I won’t play another game until September,” McAvoy said when asked if he thought he would hear from the DoPS. “Can’t imagine it really matters much.”

McAvoy, 28, has been suspended twice in his NHL career. The first was a one-game suspension in 2019 for an illegal check to the head on then-Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson , which also happened in the playoffs.

He was also suspended in 2023 for an illegal check to the head on then-Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson ; McAvoy missed four games.

The league will announce the time and date of the meeting later. In-person hearings are typically reserved for more serious incidents, giving the league the option to suspend McAvoy for longer than five games.

And because the Bruins’ season is over, any suspension will be enforced at the start of the 2026-27 regular season.

The league did not announce any further discipline for Benson. He was only charged with a two-minute minor tripping penalty at the time.

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