Bruins' Charlie McAvoy suspended 6 games for slashing Sabres' Zach Benson
Charlie McAvoy is slated to miss the first six games of the 2026-27 NHL season after he was hit with a suspension for his slash on Zach Benson.
Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will sit out xxxx games at the beginning of next season after he was suspended on May 11 for slashing the Buffalo Sabres' Zach Benson . The incident happened during the final minutes of the Sabres' series-clinching win against the Bruins on May 1. Benson tripped McAvoy with a slew foot, receiving a two-minute penalty.
McAvoy got up and went after Benson with a baseball-swing slash. He received five minutes and a game misconduct. The defenseman was offered an in-person hearing, giving the NHL Player Safety Department the leeway to suspend him for six games or more.
BENSON SLEW-FOOTS MCAVOY… AND HE RETALIATES WITH A BASEBALL SWING 😳 pic. twitter. com/oZpf9tm4U9 — Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) May 2, 2026 McAvoy has two previous suspensions in his career.
He was suspended one playoff game in 2019 for an illegal check to the head and four games in 2023 for the same infraction. McAvoy won Olympic gold with the USA in Milan this season. Before making the tournament, he had to come back from a serious shoulder injury suffered at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off.