The expectations have been so massive for Charlie McAvoy for so long that it’s easy to forget he’s only played two NHL seasons.
His entrance to the NHL in the 2017 playoffs put those projections there, and while McAvoy has yet to become the Drew Doughty clone some saw him as at BU, he’s clearly one of the best young defensemen in the NHL.
But with McAvoy, it’s never really been about what he’s been at the moment. Watching him in World Juniors, we all said he’d be a star in the NHL. Watching him log more than 26 minutes a night against the Senators at the end of his sophomore year of college, we pegged him as the Bruins’ eventual No. 1 defensemen.
Injuries have halted both of those paths here and there, as detractors can point to a season like 2018-19 and say he shouldn’t be anointed until he’s truly done it for 82 games.
That’s coming, however, and a franchise that’s been lucky enough to have some of the greatest to ever play the position will have its next clear-cut No. 1. He'll have a Norris before all is said and done.
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