Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis Blues could look to cash in by trading productive Pavel Buchnevich

Originally posted on Daily Faceoff | Last updated 2/8/24

It was only in 2021 that the St. Louis Blues acquired winger Pavel Buchnevich from the New York Rangers in exchange for the paltry price of Sammy Blais and a second-round pick.

At that point in time, the Blues were looking to reload in pursuit of a second Stanley Cup championship. But now, the team is outside the playoff picture and Buchnevich is just over a year away from UFA status.

Buchnevich popped up at No. 9 on Daily Faceoff hockey insider Frank Seravalli’s latest Trade Targets board on Thursday. And to hear Frank tell it on Daily Faceoff Live, Buchnevich’s production and cap hit makes him a bargain to St. Louis — and extremely appealing to teams around the league.

Tyler Yaremchuk: You had the line in the story up on the site, ‘One of the more unheralded point-per-game players in the league,’ and you kind of read that, shake your head, and go, ‘Holy crap, he is a point-per-game player.’ Frank, if the Blues decide to move on from this guy, I know his cap hit’s a little bit high, but what contender doesn’t want to add a big body who can produce the way Buchnevich has produced?

Frank Seravalli: At $5.8 million, his cap hit is a bargain. It just means trading for him to fit him in, that’s the hard part, or harder part. But there’s lots of resources and options available to chop it up if you wanted to, and he has one additional year left on his deal. I don’t even think you need to, he’s that good, and the stat line that makes people’s eyes pop is 182 points in 183 career games as a Blue. That is rather significant. […]

Doug Armstrong got [Buchnevich] from the New York Rangers because they weren’t willing to pay him as a restricted free agent. He only gave up a second-round pick to do it. Is he really going to sign up to pay Buchnevich, who will be 30 when the deal starts, on a long-term deal that probably has him in the $8 million a year neighborhood based on this production? The answer, a lot of teams think, is no.

Watch the full episode here: