Pavel Buchnevich's numbers won't impress you, unless you count his 76-point debut season with the St. Louis Blues, which is still a career high. But Buchnevich brings better play than at least half the league, and it barely falters, which is what makes him a valuable 18-19-plus-minute player.
No, he may never eclipse 75 points in a season ever again, but 50-65-point players like Buchnevich will win you championships if you have enough of them. So, even if he wasn't part of the Blues, I'd be saying the same thing: An integral player to a team's core, and one fans miss when he's not on the ice.
That said, I'll take 57-point, 20-goal seasons from Buchnevich regardless of what's going on, especially as youngsters like Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud produce. Should they both be 65-plus-point players and Buchnevich sticks around at 57 points, the Blues will be more than fine.
Expect Pavel Buchnevich to be all over the ice once again for the St. Louis Blues
As usual, you saw Buchnevich collect first-line minutes, power-play minutes, and short-handed minutes, making him one of the most complete players on the team regardless of the situation. Expect more of that this season, and even if his numbers decline, I'm still convinced he'll make his presence felt.
Why's that? Look at his on-ice shooting percentage at even strength from 2024-25: 12.9. Add that to a Corsi For Percentage of just 49.7 despite an offensive zone starting percentage of 55.1, and it shows you that Buchnevich makes the most of his sequences in the offensive zone.
The sequences he's involved in are more high-quality, as the above numbers show, as opposed to high quantity. This tells me one thing: If you wanna score, make sure Buchnevich is on the ice, because he's gonna contribute, even if he's not showing up all the time on the stat sheet.
Ditto for when the Blues are stuck at 4-on-5, or if they got the man advantage at 5-on-4. And he's a contributor, with 10 of his 37 assists coming on the power play.
Buchnevich will keep up a steady pace for the St. Louis Blues
Just play your game and be a steady presence on the ice, that'd be my advice to Buchnevich with training camp looming in the horizon. Play your game, add supplementary scoring, put up some solid playmaking, and you're gonna help the Blues win a lot of games again in 2025-26.
The real burning question: What will Buchnevich's presence mean for players like Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud as they keep evolving? I'll let Buchnevich (and other seasoned vets) answer that question once the season kicks off and as it wears on.