Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy leaves game with upper-body injury

The Boston Bruins have announced that defenseman Charlie McAvoy will not return to Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs with an upper-body injury.

The Bruins were trailing 1-0 at the time of the announcement.

McAvoy collided with Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron in the second period and didn’t return.

The severity of his injury isn’t clear, so there’s a chance it could be more of a precautionary measure at this point of the season.

McAvoy, 25, has had one of the best seasons of his career with 50 points in 63 games. If it wasn’t for a previous injury, McAvoy was on pace to break the 60-point mark for the first time, just a year after recording 10 goals and 56 points. The team’s No. 1 defenseman, McAvoy is in the first year of an eight-year deal worth $9.5 million per season.

In 376 NHL games over seven years, McAvoy has 41 goals and 228 points. Over the past three years, McAvoy’s 136 points are good for 14th among defenders.

An extended absence for McAvoy would be a sizeable loss for the Bruins with just four games to go in the regular season. The team locked up the Presidents’ Trophy last month in the midst of one of the best NHL seasons in team history. They’re 60-12-5 with 125 points in 77 games, sitting 16 points ahead of Carolina. The Bruins are an incredible 31-4-3 at home with a 9-1-0 record over the past 10 games.