NHL hands out 6-game ban to Bruins star McAvoy for slashing Sabres' Benson

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on May 12, 2026

Published in Hockey

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BOSTON — The makeup of the Boston Bruins’ defense to start next season is still in question, but it appears Charlie McAvoy will not be in the opening night lineup.

McAvoy on Tuesday was tagged with a six-game suspension to start the 2026-27 regular season by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for his baseball swing slash of the Buffalo Sabres’ Zach Benson. Players can appeal anything over five games but there was no immediate word on whether McAvoy will go down that avenue.

The play happened near the end of the deciding Game 6 of the Bruins-Sabres first-round playoff series with the B’s about to be eliminated.

With both players going back for a puck in the B’s zone, Benson tripped/slew-footed McAvoy near the end boards. While on the league video announcing the suspension, the trip was termed “dangerous.” The two-minute minor handed out to Benson apparently sufficed as he escaped further discipline.

An incensed McAvoy got up and went after Benson, taking a wild baseball-swing at Benson and hitting his arm. The league explanation pointed a foul committed against a player does not excuse that player from seeking retribution.

The suspension was also affected by McAvoy’s history. In 2023, he was suspended for a head shot on Florida’s Oliver Ekman-Larson and also served a one-game suspension for a hit on Columbus’ Josh Anderson in the clinching game of the playoff series against the Blue Jackets.

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