The NHL Department of Player Safety has suspended Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy for six regular-season games for slashing Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series May 1.
The suspension was announced Tuesday, one day after McAvoy had an in-person hearing at the league offices in New York City
McAvoy will serve the suspension at the start of the 2026-27 season. He and the National Hockey League Players’ Association can appeal the ban to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman; if necessary, they can further appeal to a neutral arbitrator because the suspension is greater than five games.
The slashing penalty was called with 1:31 left in the game, with the Sabres leading 4-1 while holding a 3-2 series lead. As McAvoy skated back for an icing call, Benson tripped him with his left leg, sending McAvoy crashing into the end boards. McAvoy got up, skated over through his teammates and delivered a two-handed slash across Benson’s torso. McAvoy was given a five-minute major for slashing, which carries an automatic game misconduct. Benson was whistled for a minor penalty for tripping.
“All parties agree that this is an intentional and forceful strike delivered to an opponent’s body specifically for the purpose of retribution and message sending,” the NHL said in its ruling. “In addition, all parties agree that this play occurs outside of actual gameplay and in a situation where the outcome of the game and the series had been decided.”
Despite McAvoy and the NHLPA arguing that Benson slew-footed McAvoy to set him off, the NHL ruled that “players are not excused from illegal acts just because of a prior foul by an opponent.” The NHL also noted that McAvoy traveled a significant distance to slash Benson.
McAvoy has two previous suspensions in his career: for one game in 2019 for an illegal check to the head of Josh Anderson of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and for four games in 2023 for an illegal check to the head of Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Florida Panthers. He has also been fined once in his 573-game NHL career.
The six-game suspension is the longest in the NHL since Minnesota Wild center Ryan Hartman was banned for 10 games in February 2025 for roughing Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle. That suspension was reduced to eight games on appeal to Bettman.
