Charlie McAvoy is here and is #2. Get excited.

Top 25 Under 25

#2 - Charlie McAvoy - D

Where did he come from?: 2016 Draft, 1st Round, 14th overall

Has he played in the NHL?: Yes! 6 Playoff games!

How exactly do you discuss Charlie McAvoy without getting excited for having a whole year of him ahead of you?

An absolute star in BU’s defense, the highest scoring (by almost ten points), leading the Terrier’s blueline in practically everything: Points (assists especially), Points per game, tied for power play points amongst defensemen...the works. McAvoy was a man amongst boys in Hockey East this year, and made himself out to be a star in the process. He signed an ATO for Providence, but circumstances meant the B’s had to sign him full time and see what he could do for them in the NHL Playoffs.

Whether by need or by nature...they trusted him almost implicitly.

And these were Playoff games! NHL Playoff Games! And the Bruins knew they could trust him right off the bat. He drove possession, he blocked shots, he stopped plays before they ever began, he played like he’d been playing in the NHL for about five years. He played like he had nothing to prove and made the team look better by having him on the ice. And they had him on the ice a lot.

And that was at the highest level of competition during the toughest time of play. And he just kept doing that even after Boston got eliminated.

From March to July, McAvoy ended up going from highest level of competition in the college game from highest level of competition in the NHL to the highest level of competition in the international scene that was available to him. He looked quality the whole way.

Call it what you want, I call that a special kind of player that the team can call upon.

Now, he gets to show us 82 games, so we can get a more complete picture of Charlie Mac’s ability at the NHL level.

And if this was how he ended up in the playoffs? I’m excited to see what he can bring.

What does the future look like for McAvoy?

Black, Gold, and moneyed, if all goes according to plan.

Boston will not have a #1 defenseman after 2017-18, so it will be up to Charlie Mac and Brandon Carlo to show us if they’re capable of handling the responsibility of leading the team’s blueline from here on. Both have seen incredible competition and minutes, the only difference is that the situations (regular season and playoffs), were sort of like night and day.

The long-term future says nothing but bright things about this young man, but the short term right now is mostly jockeying for position in the lineup, as right now there’s really only one spot that’s “open”.

I for one, think he’ll do just fine in the current lineup and I eagerly await watching him climb the ladder to NHL stardom.