Charlie McAvoy has been offered an in-person hearing by NHL Player Safety for slashing Buffalo's Zach Benson, and the timing for the Bruins defenseman could not be uglier.

The news dropped Saturday afternoon, less than 48 hours after Boston's elimination at the hands of the Sabres in six games. The series ended Friday night with a 1-4 loss at TD Garden.

In-person means real supplemental discipline is on the table. Phone hearings cap at five games. In-person opens the door to longer.

McAvoy carries a $9.5 million cap hit and just finished the regular season with 11 goals, 50 assists, and a +13 rating across 69 games. The production was there.

The playoffs were a different story. Six games, zero goals, two assists, a -6 rating. The minutes and the matchups beat him up.

The slash on Benson came late in the elimination game, and the angle making the rounds online tells the whole story in eight seconds.

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This angle of the chop on the 20-year-old Buffalo winger went viral overnight.

Benson, by the way, was excellent in that series. The Sabres rookie posted three points and a +3 rating in six games against Boston. He was a problem they never solved.

That's part of what makes the swing look worse. A frustrated veteran defenseman, a kid who beat him all series, and a stick that came down at an angle no one defends.

Marco Sturm now heads into his offseason already missing his top right-shot defender for an unknown stretch of next October. The hearing date is still TBD.

The Bruins finished 45-27-10 with 100 points and bowed out in the first round. The cap sheet doesn't get easier. The blue line just got thinner before training camp even opens.

How much rope does Player Safety give a player with no recent suspension history but a clear, deliberate two-hand chop on a defenseless opponent? That's the question hanging over Causeway Street tonight.

Don Sweeney now waits on a ruling that could shape Boston's October. And somewhere in Buffalo, Lindy Ruff's group is still alive.