Charlie McAvoy Gushes Over Bruins First Practice Under Marco Sturm

Training camp has kicked off for the Boston Bruins, as the team held its first practice under new head coach Marco Sturm on Thursday. It’s only one day of work, but defenseman Charlie McAvoy sounded pretty thrilled with the work the Bruins did.

There’s no hiding from the fact that the 2024-25 campaign was a disappointment for the B’s. After making it to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2024, Boston missed the playoffs entirely last season.

As a result, big changes were made this offseason. Sturm was hired to be the team’s new head coach, and the front office was busy in free agency, particularly when it came to addressing the depth of the team. The hope is that with more solid players in town, the Bruins will be able to play at a high level for the full 82-game season.

That starts with getting some good work in during training camp. With the start of the regular season less than a month away, Sturm is going to have to hit the ground running with his new team. According to McAvoy, it sounds like he did a great job of setting the tone on Thursday.

“I thought today was a great day,” McAvoy said when speaking to reporters. “I understand you don’t want to throw too much at guys on day one. Let’s get our legs under us, let’s be sharp where we can be, but I’m assuming he’ll continue to throw more at us, we’ll compete more in these first couple of days when everybody has a good foundation.”

McAvoy understands that you can only accomplish so much on the first day of practice, but with Sturm leading a new regime, that’s going to make every day before the start of the season important, and it sounds like that isn’t lost on the team’s new head coach.

The Bruins have a lot to accomplish before the start of the regular season, and things will shift into another gear once the preseason gets underway. Boston’s first preseason game is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, as they will square off against the Washington Capitals.