Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy drops truth bomb on brutal 4 Nations injury

The Boston Bruins conducted their exit meetings on Thursday, two days after the conclusion of a hugely disappointing 2024-25 season. It was especially brutal for Charlie McAvoy, who suffered a shoulder injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off in February that cost him the rest of the campaign.

McAvoy opened up about the entire situation on Thursday.

“Mentally, emotionally, physically, I’ve gone through so much because of that damn experience. It cost me my season. It cost me my sanity in a lot of ways,” McAvoy told reporters. “None of this has been easy and I get emotional when I talk about it. Look, it was an incredible experience, waited my whole life to be a part of something like that.

“But the way that it ended and the aftermath of it and what I had to to go through, it cost me a lot more than I was willing to give and that’s unfortunate. But it’s over now, and now I can finally put it to bed and after we talk about it. I don’t want to talk about it ever again, because it cost me a lot.”

It’s hard not to feel bad for McAvoy, who was chosen to represent his country, which was clearly a huge honor for the 27-year-old. But after he was injured during a 3-1 victory over Team Canada on February 15, he was hospitalized with an infection, causing things to spiral out of his control quickly.

The Bruins were reportedly unhappy with how Team USA handled the injury. McAvoy ended up undergoing a procedure to treat an infection that stemmed from the initial shoulder ailment. His prolonged absence was a big reason Boston finished the season dead last in the Eastern Conference with a miserable 33-39-10 record.

Bruins’ season went off the rails after 4 Nations Face-Off

Although McAvoy has been skating in the spring and hoped to return to the lineup, he was never able to get back into game action in 2024-25. It’ll be the first time in his nine-year career that he won’t play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“Not a great year, really by any stretch,” he told reporters. “There were certainly some pockets of some good memories, I guess? But overall, really a year to forget with an unfortunate ending on my side.”

McAvoy was also forced to watch as the organization waived the white flag at the deadline, trading away Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers and Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“It’s disheartening in every way. You’re watching your friends, your teammates struggle. You’re trying to be there to help with that. You can’t,” he said. “So many things this year were just unfortunate. So there’s frustration. There’s certainly motivation to never be here again. To find ways for us to improve this culture. To get back to what it looks like because this isn’t a good place to be right now.”

McAvoy is expected to be fully healthy for the 2025-26 campaign as the Bruins look to turn the page and return to postseason contention next year.