Oilers fans got a nice look at Pavel Buchnevich, who had two games against his team in two weeks. The 28 forward, playing in his 8th NHL season, 3rd with the St. Louis Blues, has been connected to the Edmonton Oilers as a trade target. In those two games against the Blues I was referencing, he put up two goals and an assist. He has 48 total points through 57 games in 2023/2024 and 386 points through 494 games in his career. Given some of his time in St. Louis, you can also count on him to play a two-way game. Perhaps we wouldn’t just see Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stopping shorthanded breakaways if he came to Edmonton.
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Back in the 2021 offseason, when Buchnevich was with the New York Rangers, there was talk of the Rangers offering him to Edmonton for then Oilers enforcer Zach Kassian. At this point in time, Kassian was a polarizing 4th line player among Oilers fans. He hit a lot but couldn’t provide enough secondary scoring, and his quality of play, even as a career bottom sixer, was starting to slow down; he overpaid at $3.2M per year after the career year he had in 2020 with 34 points before the COVID-19 Pandemic started. He sadly became a more inconsistent player as time went on. Not that I mean to relive old wounds; I don’t hold anything personally against Kassian, but the decision by Ken Holland not to make this trade is one that’ll always make me scratch my head. Buchnevich would have a 76 point season in the season following that summer.
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I suppose having Buchnevich now in a “Cup or Bust” year would make up for that mistake. I believe a player like this could really help the second line by being for Leon Draisaitl, what Zach Hyman has become for Connor McDavid. The Blues sit 5 points out of a Wild Card. If they climb just a tad closer before next Friday, the possibility of them moving on from Buchnevich should be easier to predict. Elliotte Friedman reported that St. Louis might be looking for two first round picks in return. That is certainly a hefty price, but in win-now mode, you can only feel that way about so many trade scenarios. We could have two Booch-es in Oil Country.
Would you want Pavel Buchnevich? Would you not? Let me know.
