Charlie McAvoy will return from his six-game suspension when the Bruins play in San Jose on Tuesday night, giving them a boost on the blue line as the trip begins. The Bruins have done pretty well without their No. 1 defenseman, but his return still changes the lineup and gives Marco Sturm and his staff a decision to make before the puck drops.
That decision matters now because the Bruins are not just starting a four-game road trip. They are also trying to wake up a power play that has not been sharp enough, and McAvoy’s presence is one of the few straightforward ways to change that. The Bruins will play in San Jose on Tuesday night, in Anaheim on Friday night, in Los Angeles on Saturday night and in Dallas the following Tuesday, so the choice on the back end will not be a one-night issue.
Someone will need to drop out on the blue line to make room for McAvoy, and Marco Sturm and team will spend the next day or two sorting through that problem. The Bruins did not collapse without him, which is part of what makes the call less obvious than it would have been a week earlier. They are getting better health at a time when their special teams still need help, and that can make a stable lineup feel less stable than it looks.
Tuesday’s game in San Jose also comes with an 11 PM start, which turns McAvoy’s return into the first real checkpoint of the trip. For the Bruins, the suspension is ending at the exact moment the schedule gets long and the margin for lineup mistakes gets thin. The only open question is which Bruins defenseman comes out when their top defender steps back in.
