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Charlie McAvoy went home to Long Beach, N.Y., in the spring for some much-needed time with his family and friends. The 19-year-old defenseman needed to unwind and step away from the whirlwind that sent him from Boston University to the Providence Bruins and then to the NHL varsity, where he skated on the top Bruins pairing with Zdeno Chara in the playoffs.

After his brief break, McAvoy went back to Commonwealth Avenue and the setting where he was most comfortable. He trained at BU throughout the summer.

“I’ve got a lot of trust in our strength coach there, and we did everything together this summer to make sure I was getting better in every aspect,’’ McAvoy said. “I’m really confident about the summer we had and I’m ready to get going.’’

McAvoy returned to Warrior Ice Arena Friday for a captain’s practice, one in a series of voluntary sessions led by the Bruins players. Next Thursday, he and 27 others will report for Bruins rookie camp, where they will aim to ready themselves for official training camp the week after that.

This is McAvoy’s first year in the full training circuit, but he enters with a vastly different experience under his belt than the other youngsters.

After the Bruins inked him to an entry-level deal last April, he had a short tuneup in Providence before the club needed him in the playoffs. With the defensive corps decimated by injuries to Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo, McAvoy logged serious minutes in the first round against Ottawa.

In six games, he averaged 26 minutes and 12 seconds of ice time, and filled in for Krug at the point on the top power-play unit.

It was a stunning development for McAvoy, who admitted he was star-struck sharing ice time and a locker room with players he admired growing up.

“I went from being the leader, the go-to guy on my BU team, to being the rookie with no experience,’’ McAvoy said. “In college, those settings, there are not those big, larger-than-life figures you’re on the team with.

“Now I have Chara, [Patrice] Bergeron and [Brad] Marchand, [David] Backes and [Tuukka] Rask. You think the world of these guys, and the next thing you know, you’re in the same room as them. It’s crazy to blink and see those guys.’’

McAvoy knew he had to pivot on the fly. He kept it simple, talking less and listening more. He soaked in all he could from the savvy veterans as he buzzed through the NHL playoffs only a little more than two weeks after playing his last game with the Terriers.

“For me, it means a lot to be on a team with these guys, it’s an honor,’’ McAvoy said. “I want to give a good impression, which I think I was able to do.’’

Chara, who is entering his 20th season and is still a workhorse at age 40, is a player McAvoy watches closely. He learned how the veteran meticulously cares for himself off the ice, something McAvoy is eager to do early in his career.

“He was playing in the NHL before I was born,’’ McAvoy said. “The way he eats, the way he trains, goes about his daily life, it’s a reason he’s played so long and why he’s the player he is.

“There are so many valuable lessons and I’m very excited this year to learn even more from a guy like that because he’s such a special guy.’’

McAvoy is eager to participate in rookie camp. The Bruins prospects travel to Buffalo next Thursday, where the Sabres will host a tournament that also features young players from the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins

From there, McAvoy will set his sights on training camp, where he hopes to continue to impress upon the Bruins coaches that he can be the confident, puck-moving defenseman they expect him to be.

“I feel very comfortable coming in here,’’ McAvoy said. “That being said, I know it will be a very competitive camp. There’s a lot of guys here looking for the same spots everyone else is looking for. But I will definitely will use those experiences and I’ll play with confidence and play my game.’’