NEW YORK — Boston Bruins star defenseman Charlie McAvoy is hopeful to return to their lineup soon as he works back from a complex shoulder injury that required offseason surgery.
McAvoy returned to practice last week and was on the ice for a lengthy skating session at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, ahead of Boston’s game with the New York Rangers.
“This is his first week getting back into a rhythm with us,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “We’re just hopeful with him. No updated timeline. We have an internal process with him. He’s ahead of that Dec. 1 date, but we don’t know exactly. There are boxes to be checked.”
McAvoy, 24, is considered one of the NHL’s top defensemen. He had 56 points in 70 games last season, leading the Bruins with 24:38 average ice time per game.
McAvoy said he has reached the point of full contact in practice, as he and team doctors check the boxes for his eventual return to the lineup.
“Now we’re in the phase of strengthening. That’s the biggest thing. It’s about supporting those muscles around [the shoulder] and getting to a spot where you feel like you can give and take contact for long periods of times,” he said.
McAvoy underwent a left shoulder arthroscopic stabilization on June 3. The expected recovery time was approximately six months.
McAvoy suffered the injury in Game 6 of the first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes. He was checked against the boards and his arm went numb. He played in Game 7, but it lingered after the Bruins’ loss. McAvoy underwent an MRI, was advised to get the surgery done and said he “wasn’t thrilled” to hear the shoulder injury was a complex one.
“I played, you know? We kind of threw the kitchen sink at it to get it to feel good. So you play, get through it, and I was like, ‘Oh, you know what? Must be fine.’ Like, I felt strong and I did everything,” he said. “Then you get the imaging done, and I really didn’t have much of a choice, [considering] longevity and quality of life with an injury. I had to just get it fixed.”
McAvoy said he reached out to other players who underwent the surgery.
“[They told me] it freaking sucks,” he said. “The overall theme that everyone’s told me is to be patient. It’s a weird injury. Mine was pretty complex and it’s not a one-size-fits all, like some injuries. This one really is different for everybody. So sometimes you need extra time. Not fun to deal with, but I’m lucky about the people that I work with.”
Both McAvoy and star winger Brad Marchand missed the first few weeks of the regular season with injury, but Boston didn’t suffer without them. The Bruins’ 9-1-0 record is the best start in franchise history through 10 games.
Besides sharing in those victories, McAvoy said he has missed the chance to bond with Montgomery, the new coach. The two spoke during the offseason and attended a Red Sox game with their families. But McAvoy has been away from the Bruins’ main group at practice until recently.
“A lot of people are like, ‘Hey, how’s Coach?’ Like, he’s doing a hell of a job, so he must be great,” said McAvoy, laughing. “But, you know, it stinks. I’ve just been on my own for a while. But all the coaches, him included, do a really good job of keeping you involved, checking up on you.”
Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.
Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.
Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.
The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.
The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.
Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.
Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.
North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.
Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.
Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.
Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.
He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.
“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”
As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.
“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”
Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.
Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.
“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”
Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.
“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.
Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.
‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”
He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.
Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.
Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.
“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”
Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.
“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”
Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.
“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”