McAvoy signs with Bruins; Quinn looks to the future.

As anticipated, sophomore defenseman Charlie McAvoy will give up his final two years of eligibility after signing an amateur tryout contract (ATO) with the AHL Providence Bruins. An entry-level NHL contract with Boston will begin with the 2017-18 season.

The right-shot blueliner from Long Beach, NY was BU’s top-scoring defenseman with 26 points (5G, 21A) after a 25-point freshman campaign. He also was an alternate captain on the gold-medal winning US squad at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

His final point as a Terrier was the double-overtime game-winner against North Dakota in the NCAA regionals.

At Providence, McAvoy—Boston’s first-round draft pick last June— will be reunited with his former BU defense partner Matt Grzelcyk, who is completing his first pro season. He's expected to make his debut on Saturday.
● GoTerriers.com report

● Boston Hockey Blog report

● SB Nation report

● USCHO report 

Looking ahead

With McAvoy and Clayton Keller moving to the next level, Terrier head coach David Quinn sat down with Jonathan Sigal of the Daily Free Press to answer the question: “What’s the state of BU Hockey moving forward?”

Talking at length on Wednesday in his Agganis Arena office, Quinn said that he fully expects junior defensemen John MacLeod (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Brandon Hickey (Calgary Flames) to be back, and the same goes for sophomore forwards Jordan Greenway (Minnesota Wild) and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (Boston Bruins).

Quinn, who also discussed BU’s eight-man 2017-18 recruit class, called the recently ended season a “good” one, but declined to label it a success, noting “there’s only one measuring stick and that’s a national title. He added:

“I think we’re in really good shape. “We’ve been to three straight NCAA Tournaments. We’ve played for a national championship, got knocked in the first round, then lost in overtime. We just have to keep going back to win one. That’s how it works. You can’t show up once every four years and win a national title. You have to keep going back.”

Further comments from Quinn can be found in Sigal’s Twitter feed.