Boston Bruins: Trading Charlie McAvoy is a very bad idea

The 2019-20 season hasn’t gone according to plan for Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, leading to rumours that the team might be inclined to trade the 22-year-old.

Charlie McAvoy is still searching for his first goal this season, and at times has struggled in the defensive end of the ice as well. Despite that, the Boston Bruins would have to be crazy to give up on him this early in his career, especially after he has shown signs of becoming a true number one defenseman since he first stepped onto the ice with the Bruins during the 2017 NHL Playoffs.

But with McAvoy struggling, the trade deadline now less than a month away, and the Bruins still searching for a top-six winger. Rumours are starting, per Boston Hockey Now, that the Bruins might be willing to shop McAvoy.

McAvoy has spent most of his young career paired with Zdeno Chara, who is the perfect mentor for any young player, but specifically the player that many around the Boston Bruins organization see becoming the most reliable defenseman on the team in the near future.

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I can see the argument that McAvoy could use a bit of a wake up call to shake up his game right now, but the Bruins learned this lesson the hard way not too long ago.

The Boston Bruins have shown that they don’t always have the patience to wait on young players. The most notable example is the way the team moved on from Tyler Seguin when he was just 21-years-old.

Seguin showed promise with the Bruins but turned into an elite player in the NHL after being traded to the Dallas Stars. While the emergence of David Pastnrak has helped to soften the blow of giving up on Seguin, most fans in Boston still feel bitter about being on the losing end of that trade.

That’s why any thought of trading McAvoy seems ridiculous. The Bruins learned this lesson not too long ago and although the team has more than a few solid prospects on the blueline, there is still some uncertainty about the future of some of those players.

Zdeno Chara’s future seems to be year-to-year at this point, but at 42 it looks like retirement is just around the corner for the captain. Torey Krug is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, although there have been rumours that a contract extension is in the works.

Matt Grzelcyk has shown he’s ready for a bigger role, but as a result he’s one of the players that could potentially be lost to Seattle’s NHL franchise in the 2021 Expansion Draft.

With nothing set in stone beyond the next couple of seasons, the Bruins would be wise to keep McAvoy in the mix. With the Bruins core group of players aging, the team is obviously in a win-now mindset. However, their best chance to win is still with Charlie McAvoy in the lineup.