The Boston Bruins suffered a significant setback just more than one month before the Stanley Cup Final. Charlie McAvoy, the Bruins defenseman, got served a six-game ban for an incident in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Buffalo Sabres.

The 28-year-old had slashed Sabres forward Zach Benson just seconds after getting tripped by him in Game 6 of the playoff series on May 1.

"All parties agree that this is an intentional and forceful strike delivered to an opponent's body specifically for the purpose of retribution and message sending," the NHL ruling said.

The incident occurred with roughly 1:30 remaining in the Boston Bruins’ 4-1 loss, a defeat that ultimately brought their season to an end.

After Benson tripped McAvoy during an icing play and was penalized, McAvoy responded following the whistle by swinging his stick two-handed and striking Benson in the arm.

The NHL Department of Player Safety decided to suspend McAvoy in its ruling after he was at the league’s headquarters for an in-person hearing on the matter in New York City this Monday.

“In addition, all parties agree that this play occurs outside of actual gameplay and in a situation where the outcome of the game and the series had been decided," the NHL added.

The ruling provided the senior VP of Player Safety at the NHL, George Parros, and his team, the option to ban for at least six games, and they settled for that number.

Moreover, McAvoy and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) argued their case with the point about Benson ticking him off by slew-footing him. But the league stated that the “players are not excused from illegal acts just because of a prior foul by an opponent.”

Furthermore, the NHL pointed out the intent behind McAvoy’s actions by alluding to the fact that he made a significant distance to reach Benson and slash him.

McAvoy and the NHLPA now have the option to appeal the ban to Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner. They can also take the case forward by appealing to a neutral arbitrator since the ban is in excess of five games.

Charlie McAvoy’s History With Suspension

McAvoy of the Bruins already had a history of getting suspended in the NHL twice before his skirmish with Benson. McAvoy was suspended in 2019 due to an illegal check to the head of Columbus Blue Jackets’ Josh Anderson.

Four years later, a four-game ban was handed to him as a result of his second offence in 2023. McAvoy was involved in a similar illegal check to Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Florida Panthers.

Fast forward to 2026, McAvoy's six-game suspension is the longest in the NHL since Minnesota Wild center Ryan Hartman's.

In February 2025, he received a 10-game suspension for roughing Tim Stützle from the Ottawa Senators. However, the penalty was trimmed to eight games following an appeal to Gary Bettman.

During his elongated career of 573 games in the NHL, the Bruins’ alternate captain, McAvoy, has been fined on one occasion as well. It was a $5K fine for a tripping incident involving the Carolina Hurricanes defenseman, Brady Skjei, in 2022.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar