McAvoy was at the ready
But even a confident Quinn wowed by success with B’s
Boston University coach David Quinn had no doubt late in the 2016-17 season that Terriers defenseman Charlie McAvoy was ready to make the jump to the NHL and have success with the Bruins.
Could he have imagined that the 19-year-old would be, in the minds of many observers, not just the B’s best defenseman in their playoff series vs. Ottawa, but maybe even their top player overall? That might have been a bit of a stretch.
The personable and candid Quinn spoke at length about his prize pupil, who launched his pro career so impressively last month and looms as a key Bruins piece for years to come.
“We all felt like he was ready to play in the NHL,” Quinn said last week. “Did I think he’d step into the playoffs, play 25 minutes a night and have that kind of impact? No. But I wasn’t surprised to see him step in and have success.”
Quinn talked about McAvoy’s two years at BU, about the pressure of being a first-round pick of the NHL team in the same city, about the trade rumors involving the Long Island, N.Y., native and about his penchant for maybe trying to do too much on the ice.
“That was no fluke what Charlie did for the Bruins,” Quinn said of the defenseman’s six games, with 0-3-3 totals while playing 26:11 per game — ice time exceeded only by Zdeno Chara’s 28:45.
“His last month at BU I thought was the best hockey he ever played for us,” Quinn said. “His first QUINN two years, I don’t care how many times you talk to a kid or how strong-minded he is, the draft weighs on these kids.
“Charlie’s problems his freshman year came from trying to do too much. He knew there were (scouts from) 30 teams in the stands watching everything he did. He got in trouble because he tried to do too much. And then last year, in one regard it was great that he got picked by the Bruins, but he had the added pressure of playing a mile down the road from where they practice every day. All the scrutiny and added pressure of being the Bruins’ first-round pick, at times that wore on him.
“And then two weeks before the (March 1 NHL) trade deadline were the worst hockey he played at BU — because of all those trade rumors about him going to Colorado for (Gabriel) Landeskog weighed on him. The day of the Beanpot final (Feb. 13), he and I had a half-hour conversation about it, because there was a big article that day about him maybe being traded for Landeskog. He was all rattled about it.
“The minute the trade deadline passed, he played his best hockey ever at BU.”
Good enough that the Bruins, when they were hit with an epidemic of blueline injuries, quickly moved to sign McAvoy and get him in a uniform. In the eyes of Quinn and others, the smart and mobile defenseman was at his best against the Senators, when he kept his game simple and didn’t force plays.
There were times, though, later in the firstround series that McAvoy perhaps tried to do too much, which tends to lead to turnovers against the Sens.
“He actually said that to me after the first two or three games,” Quinn said. “He said, ‘I feel really good; I’m just playing it safe.’ (Later in the series) I was like, ‘Well, what was wrong with what you did in those first three games? You don’t need to try to do a lot more. What was wrong with that?’
“That’s what happens to players: They try to do more than they need to (do). He’s a special kid and a special player by just making the right play and playing within himself.”
On the flip side
As for the Bruins’ other late signee from BU, center Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, many observers believe his turning pro was probably premature. The 20-year-old signed April 2 and played in regular-season finale vs. the Capitals. His signing burned one season of his three-year contract at the entry-level salary, meaning it will likely cost the team a couple of million bucks down the road. More importantly, JFK probably would have benefitted from another season at BU, getting stronger and likely improving his offensive play. Quinn sees both sides. “To me, there are two conversations,” he said. “One is should he have left? But the other is that he’s around that pro environment. He’s practicing every day with the Bruins. He got into a game. I’m sure he would have liked to play more. Who the heck wouldn’t?
“But he’ll be better for it next year when training camp starts. Anytime you can get into that environment and be around the pro game, it’s a positive, it’s beneficial. He’s going to be a real good player for them.”
A side story for Quinn is that 6-foot-5, 230-pound Terriers winger Jordan Greenway — the No. 50 pick by the Minnesota Wild in the 2015 draft — may benefit from the departure of McAvoy and Forsbacka Karlsson. Greenway, 20, will return to BU for a third year, after posting 20-21-31 totals in 37 games last season. He’s been a somewhat inconsistent performer in his two years as a Terrier.
Quinn said the departures of McAvoy and JFK, along with Arizona Coyotes signee Clayton Keller, will help Greenway because he “has never really been the alpha male; he’s always kind of hung on the outside and deferred” to the others.
“One of the reasons he wants to come back,” Quinn said, “is because he thinks this is going to be his team.”
Quinn noted that while Greenway played two years in the National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., with Auston Matthews, Matt Tkachuk and McAvoy, and also played on the 2015 World Junior Championship team, it slowed his development because he didn’t get needed time playing special teams.
“He needed self-esteem,” in that area, Quinn said, “but . . . he never played on the penalty kill or power play for two years.
“He doesn’t have that self-confidence where he says, ‘Hey I’m as good as these guys.’ That’s been a problem for him and that’s been his problem here. He’s been a good player for us, but those guys leave and he looks around and thinks of himself as The Guy now. I’m really interested to see how he plays, because when he’s on, he’s frigging dominant.
“When he plays with confidence, boy, good luck defending him. He’s so big and skilled and he can skate. I’ve been telling him for two years, ‘ Why can’t you be one of the next great Americans? Not just in college — but why aren’t people talking about you like Auston Matthews and Matt Tkachuk? Why can’t be you be that guy?’ ”
Now perhaps he can be.