The Bruins activated top defenseman Charlie McAvoy from injured reserve Thursday, per a team announcement. The club reassigned winger Max Jones to AHL Providence to open up a roster spot.
McAvoy has missed Boston’s last seven games with an upper-body injury. He landed on IR following a Jan. 11 game against the Panthers, during which head coach Joe Sacco said he aggravated a “nagging ailment” and would be shut down for at least a week to see how it responds. His absence lasted closer to three weeks, but he’ll return to the lineup Thursday against the Jets in a top-pairing role flanked by sophomore lefty Mason Lohrei.
The lingering injury explains what’s been a down season for McAvoy. The 27-year-old has 20 points through 45 games, the lowest point-per-game pace of his eight-year NHL career. His possession metrics were dipping, too, with his +2.2 expected rating at even strength also tracking to be the worst of his career.
The 2016 first-rounder returns as the Bruins hang on for dear life in a tight Eastern Conference wild-card race. Their 5-4-1 record in their last 10 has been enough to keep pace, but they’ll fall out of the picture with a loss Thursday against Winnipeg and if the Lightning and Blue Jackets manage to get at least one point out of their games.
Boston went 4-2-1 in their last seven without McAvoy with a plus-one goal differential. They were outshot 241-176 during that span, however, and only controlled 45.5 percent of shot attempts at even strength.
Jones, 26, heads down after playing three out of four games since his Jan. 21 recall. The big-bodied winger has yet to record a point in seven games with the Bruins this season after signing a two-year, $2M deal over the summer and passed through waivers unclaimed in early November. Selected a few spots after McAvoy by the Ducks in the 2016 draft, he has eight goals and 11 points with a plus-four rating in 26 games while on assignment to Providence this year.
