Boston Bruins president Cam Neely set off a wave of excitement among fans today when he told reporters including Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic that the team hopes to “see something here in short order” regarding a Charlie McAvoy contract extension, but don’t assume the deal is done just yet. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that talks are ongoing but there is work to be done, and general manager Don Sweeney clarified by saying nothing is imminent.
If the Bruins do extend McAvoy in the coming months, you can bet the six-year, $57.5MM deal that Zach Werenski signed earlier this offseason will have been used as a comparable. The two took very similar paths to the league, playing two years of college hockey before jumping directly into the NHL, have registered points at a similar rate, and even signed almost identical three-year bridge deals ($15MM for Werenski, $14.7MM for McAvoy). Werenski is currently set to carry the third-highest cap hit among defensemen–$9.58MM–for the 2022-23 season when his extension kicks in.