The 23-year-old defenseman, who could have become a restricted free agent after this season, is in the final year of a three-year contract he signed with the Bruins on Sept. 15, 2019.
"The whole time I've wanted to be in Boston," McAvoy said. "Since the moment I've been here, kind of a little bit of reflection, it's just been a dream, honestly, to come to [Boston University] and then to stay here. ... It's just been such a dream to get to this point and everything I've ever wanted was to be here in Boston. So I can't believe it. I can't be happier than I am right now.
"Something that I've been so appreciative of and so thankful for is the team that's fielded every year since I've been here and well before that ... and every year we're competitive so all I know is a championship expectation, which I'm so thankful for. That's where you want to be. That's the dream, to win and to have a chance every year, and to look across at everyone in the room and say, 'We feel like we can do it,' that's so special. And I feel like that's the culture and that's the expectation here and that's what you want to be part of."
McAvoy scored 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) and led the Bruins in average ice time per game (24:00) and total ice time (1,223:47) in 51 games last season. He had a plus-22 rating and finished fifth in voting for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the best defenseman in the NHL.
"For a coach, it's great," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "He does everything well for us. He works hard, he's trying to get better, he's growing into [being] a little more of a leader and this probably helps him in that department. I think everyone likes security and to know he has it will be peace of mind for me. It's just the one thing that does happen sometimes is you put more pressure on yourself because you signed a big ticket. So he's just got to be careful, just go out and play, just be the same Charlie McAvoy you've always been and keep getting better."
Cassidy said McAvoy could follow the path of great defensemen in Bruins history, including Hall of Famers Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque.
"I'd hope he'd relish that and look back at history here," Cassidy said. "We're fortunate to have it. Great draft choices. Good development. He followed the guys' leadership in the room so all those things come together and I'm sure Ray would say the same thing when he came on board. Obviously Bobby Orr, I think, was a little different. When he came in, he just revolutionized the game. But for Charlie ... hopefully he has those generational careers that those guys had.
"That's what we all think will happen and hope will happen and that's up to Charlie and only he can answer where those other guys … remember, he was [from] New York, right? Wasn't he a [Denis] Potvin or Brad Park, maybe, guy back in the day? So who knows? We're going to have to educate this guy on Ray Bourque and Bobby Orr."
Selected by Boston with the No. 14 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, McAvoy has scored 122 points (24 goals, 98 assists) in 235 regular-season games and 32 points (five goals, 27 assists) in 65 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"Charlie, he's embraced Boston. He went to college here," Bruins president Cam Neely said Wednesday. "I think he likes the city, loves the sports environment, loves our fan base. Playing in front of a packed house every night is certainly something special."
McAvoy said he intends to live up to expectations from the Bruins and from himself.
"I think every year in the League you try to take a step," he said. "It's a humbling league. Nothing's ever easy. But I think just as far as development and growth, every year you want to take that step where the game looks like it's slowing down in a way that you know your plays, you know all your reads, you know all the things that allow you to have success and I feel like that foundation is something I've been building on, that I've taken this far and four years from now, I want to have another four years of development in that regard to feel as though it's slowed down, I'm comfortable in every situation, which I already feel as though I am.
"But I know I have so much to give, so much to go and I want to grow into the very best I can be. There's no complacency, there's where I am now and where I feel I can get to and every year. I just want to continue to take strides."
