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BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- The Bruins lost top-pairing defenseman and regular offensive contributor Charlie McAvoy for at least a month to a sprained left MCL.
The 20-year-old rookie suffered the injury seconds into Saturday's triumph of the Canadiens.
The B's have won the two games without him, but there's no question McAvoy's one of Boston's most important players and the timeline's a little nerve-racking since he won't be eligible to return until just before the playoffs, and that may be a best-case scenario.
So what's the plan for now?
"We got lots of depth, and he will be back," said Head Coach Bruce Cassidy. "I can't tell you exactly when. Hopefully he heals quick and keeps his conditioning up. Sometimes when players play a lot, we talked about this about Bergie, you know, assuming you get back in the lineup fairly quickly, to have a bit of a break, you gotta look at the positive side--it allows other players to go into different roles and gives the player a bit of a breather during the stretch run."
Depth on D was a problem for the Bruins last year, but there's still a veteran group available with Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Kevin Miller, Adam McQuaid, and new acquisition Nick Holden. Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk are gaining more experience by the day, too.
But, of course, the hope is McAvoy will return as good as before.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman reports