Flavin Media

Charlie McAvoy is a great player—that’s a fact. Can you always improve your team by shuffling pieces? Yes, that’s also a fact.

Bruins get: LW Brady Tkachuk, D Jakob Bernard-Docker

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Senators get: D Charlie McAvoy, Conditional 3rd-round pick

Charlie McAvoy, when embracing physicality, can be a very impactful defender. Ultimately, I worry about the superficial trend of his defensive game and the hesitancy in the offensive zone.

With an infusion of Brady Tkachuk, you really shift the entire culture to what was always supposed to be emphasized: grit, in and out. With conviction, I will say this alone would change any future games vs. a team like the Panthers—who you will inevitably run into again. With the additional piece of a guy like Jakob Bernard-Docker, you get a shoo-in defender who has upside in a physical type of defense. If you don’t have a McAvoy, replacing him with a trending defender who can be reinforced in his recent fundamentals could provide a viable replacement.

The culture wave sent by the headline player of Tkachuk would help this team in various ways. You have an on-ice reminder to your forwards of how to play offensively, and you convince any player to be nastier in either zone. You lean on the supposed depth of this team’s D-core while also getting, dare I say…a tougher defender in return and send a message to your team and the league.