Inside McAvoy’s Road to Recovery, ‘Most Frustrating Injury I Think I’ve Had’

BOSTON –– When Charlie McAvoy took his opening shift at Canada Life Centre on Dec. 11, a lot was on his mind.

For one, the Boston Bruins defenseman was skating in his first game in nearly a month. He had a plastic bubble covering his face, new metal hardware in his jaw and a 60-minute contest against the Winnipeg Jets ahead.

“Any time you come back from injury, you take that deep breath,” McAvoy said.​

He grounded himself in the moment – one he worked tirelessly to reach. Most of all, McAvoy thought about his village back home, which fueled him through one of the biggest challenges of his career.

“For me, it is always Kiley. She just gets me through everything. I really am so lucky to have her,” McAvoy said of his wife. “And my family, too. They came up and spent a lot of time with us; they helped with [my son] Rhys. They were there for anything I needed. That is my world. That is my support system. If something happens, they always come running. I really am just so blessed for them.”

McAvoy went on to log an assist through 24:16 of ice time in his return that night; it was part of the Bruins’ 6-3 win. The alternate captain stood at his stall, all smiles, following the final horn.

“That was probably his best game of the year. He was so happy to come back. He played an unbelievable game. He did everything right,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “That just showed me, and I think the whole group, how much we actually missed him. You can’t replace a guy like him. That’s why we’re lucky to have him.”​

McAvoy was finally on the other side of it, but things looked drastically different just 26 days prior.​

It was the second period of Boston’s game against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre, and McAvoy dropped to the ice after taking a slapshot to the jaw.

“I heard it, and it was a deflected puck, and it just happened so fast. You know right away if it hits flesh instead of like a pad,” Jeremy Swayman said. “It goes through your whole body, and you’re like holy [crap]. I went to him, made sure he was conscious and then just talked him through it.”

Swayman crouched down next to McAvoy as the trainers ran onto the ice. The arena stood still.

“It was pretty scary. It was the first time I had ever been hit in the face with a puck before,” McAvoy said. “It was pretty traumatic during it. I knew right away that I was in some trouble.”​

McAvoy was helped down the tunnel, and then the game had to go on. It was not an easy night for anyone in the Black & Gold, but they pulled out a 3-2 win for their teammate. McAvoy gave the Bruins a purpose.

“You don’t think about the player Charlie McAvoy, you think about him as a person,” Sturm said. “You feel for the person right away because he doesn’t deserve that. Unfortunately, that is part of the game, part of the business. Sometimes you get unlucky. You just don’t want that to happen to anyone. I think that’s why the whole bench was pretty shocked when it happened.”

McAvoy got facial surgery soon after, starting a grueling rehabilitation process. It had been less than a year since his 2024-25 campaign came to an abrupt end due to an upper-body injury. And now, more adversity.

“I had a lot of the ‘Why me?’” McAvoy said. “Again, you feel like you’re back here. Again, you’re coming out of a surgery and you always feel like you almost have to start over. Fortunate that the timetable on this one wasn’t very long.”

​McAvoy lost 20 pounds in the first week and a half due to the strict all-liquid diet, he said. Then it was onto soups and lots of ice cream to try to build back. McAvoy experimented with blending his meals – but that is not how chicken is supposed to be eaten, he said.

​“It might be the most frustrating injury I think I’ve had. You don’t really ever think about eating, drinking, stuff like that – you take it for granted, I guess,” McAvoy said. “Through the injuries in the mouth, the intubation, the surgery – I had a lot of canker sores and stuff. It was just a lot of discomfort that took seven to 10 days after the surgery to get over that hump.”

The outward surprise was accordingly warranted when McAvoy surfaced on the ice in a red non-contact jersey for practice with the Bruins just over two weeks after the initial injury. It was not unexpected for Sturm, though.​

“I know hockey guys are tough, and he’s a tough guy, too,” Sturm said. “Came back to business like he always does. And look at him right now – I don’t see any difference in his game, the way he plays and works and hits, even after his broken jaw.”

McAvoy and the training staff had to experiment with his energy levels when he first started practicing again. Finding ways to refuel was key; mashed potatoes have been a McAvoy favorite as of late.

​“It all started with that – the nutrition was the biggest part. You don’t realize how bad you feel. You think maybe it was a good thing, you shed weight pretty quick. Not in that regard,” McAvoy said. “Your body, you just can’t run on an empty stomach. It was really hard. You feel really tired all the time and lethargic. Once we were able to start feeding the nutrition part, it was safe to get back on the ice.”

The 28-year-old hasn’t just gotten back on the ice, but made an immediate impact for his team. McAvoy has logged five points (one goal, four assists) in six games since his return while on the first pair with Nikita Zadorov. Perhaps the biggest stat, though, is his nine blocked shots in that stretch, despite what he went through.

​“It was just kind of the person and player he is. He competes; he doesn't want to miss any time at all. That was a big momentum boost for our team knowing that he was going to play through the pain and not let anything hold him back,” Swayman said. “He’s a huge piece to our team. Any time he’s on the ice, you know good things are going to happen. As a goalie, I love when he’s on the ice.”

​The Bruins will face the Montreal Canadiens again on Tuesday to close out their homestand ahead of the Christmas break. McAvoy has battled behind the scenes every day since the last time the two teams met, and Boston is better for it.

“Just grateful now to be on the other side, to be on track and getting healthy. And grateful for all the doctors, not just in Montreal, but here in Boston, that took such good care of me,” McAvoy said. “When you come back, I always just feel really appreciative for the people who helped me get back every time.”