5 Offseason Trade Landing Spots for Blues Forward Pavel Buchnevich

Pavel Buchnevich was one of the most discussed players leading up to the NHL trade deadline, but the St. Louis Blues decided to keep him since he had another full year remaining on his contract.

However, now that the Blues have missed the playoffs for a second year in a row and the forward is entering the final year of his contract, it seems reasonable to conclude that he could be back on the market this offseason.

That's especially true as St. Louis needs to retool a team that has taken major steps backward in defense over the years and done relatively little to fix it.

Buchnevich has been one of the most underrated scorers in the NHL over the past few years, averaging close to 30 goals and over 60 points in his three years since joining the Blues.

He also counts just $5.8 million against the salary cap for the 2024-25 season.

The lack of term remaining on his contract and the need to potentially re-sign him as he approaches his age-30 season might be a concern for some teams, but as a short-term, one-year option there are a lot of teams that could use him.

Let's take a look at some of them.

Seattle Kraken

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SEATTLE, WA - APRIL 11: The Kraken celebrate a first period goal during an NHL game between the San Jose Sharks and the Seattle Kraken on April 11, 2024 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA. (Photo by Jeff Halstead/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Seattle Kraken took a huge step backward this season after making a surprising run to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs last year.

The biggest issue that caused their regression? A staggering lack of goal-scoring and offense.

That was always going to be a red flag for them coming into this season because so much of their offense in year two was driven by a shocking spike in shooting percentage for so many of their top players.

Teams that rely totally on shooting percentage don't tend to repeat that year after year, especially when they lack truly high-end players as the Kraken do.

This isn't a team that should be looking to start over completely and should be in the market to add more NHL-ready offense. Buchnevich would be a smart move, as only one player on the roster this season (Jared McCann) scored more goals and had more total points.

The Russian would instantly be one of Seattle's most impactful forwards.

New York Rangers

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NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 23: The New York Rangers celebrate following the National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers on April 23, 2024 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

This would be a great opportunity for the New York Rangers to correct a mistake from three years ago.

They misjudged Buchnevich's potential and made a staggeringly bad trade to send him to the Blues for Sammy Blais and a second-round draft pick.

Luckily for the Rangers, they did such a good job building the rest of the roster that it didn't really hurt them too much. Not many teams are that fortunate to make such a lopsided trade against them and still build a Stanley Cup contender.

But that isn't to say that it hasn't hurt them at least a little.

They could still use more consistent 5-on-5 scoring depth, and they could be facing the possibility of losing trade-deadline rentals Alexander Wennberg and Jack Roslovic to unrestricted free agency. That could leave them in the same situation they were in before those additions: needing more secondary scoring.

Getting a mulligan on the Buchnevich deal would be a sensational way to help remedy all of that.

Philadelphia Flyers

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NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 25: John Tortorella Head Coach of the Philadelphia Flyers behind the bench during the game against the New Jersey Devils on February 25, 2023 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images)

There are a couple of variables that would need to be addressed here.

The big one is that the Philadelphia Flyers would have to get a little creative with the cap to fit in Buchnevich's salary for this season.

That could be a relatively easy fix, though, and the salary cap is never really an obstacle for teams that want to get the player they want (just ask the Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning).

The second is the Flyers would have to commit to really trying to win this season.

They took a huge step forward in the 2023-24 season and remained in the Eastern Conference playoff race far longer than anybody reasonably expected (or should have reasonably expected) at the start of the season.

They just ended up missing by a razor-thin margin after a brutal finish to the regular season.

The main problems were goaltending, as well as a lack of offense and high-end talent.

After the season ended, head coach John Tortorella said the Flyers need to add more talented players, and Buchnevich might be the best mix of talent, production and salary available this offseason.

Buffalo Sabres

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BUFFALO, NEW YORK - APRIL 5: Jack Quinn #22 of the Buffalo Sabres celebrates his second goal of the game against the Philadelphia Flyers with Dylan Cozens #24, Zach Benson #9, Rasmus Dahlin #26 and Owen Power #25 during an NHL game on April 5, 2024 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

The pressure is going to be on the Buffalo Sabres to make the playoffs during the 2024-25 season.

The 2023-24 campaign was a huge disappointment, and their playoff drought is now at 13 consecutive seasons.

They have to at least make the playoffs.

The most surprising part of their regression this season was a lack of offense as they went from one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL a year ago to the bottom of the league (23rd overall) this season.

They also have four potential veteran unrestricted free agents at forward.

Armed with nearly $24 million in salary-cap space, they have a combination of pressure and need to get involved for somebody like Buchnevich.

If the Blues make him available, the Sabres should make the call...as well as a strong offer.

Los Angeles Kings

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 28: Adrian Kempe #9 of the Los Angeles Kings takes a shot against Edmonton Oilers in the second period during Game Four of the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena on April 28, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Kings do a lot of things extraordinarily well on the ice and have established themselves as a playoff team.

They are one of the league's best possession driving teams and consistently outchance their opponents. They finished the 2023-24 season in the top five in both shot attempt shares per 60 minutes and expected goals share per 60 minutes, and they also are a relentless defensive team.

However, they still have a ways to go before they truly become a Stanley Cup contender and are capable of making more noise in the playoffs.

One of their biggest flaws is a need for more goal-scorers who can turn some of that territorial dominance into goals. Buchnevich could help solve that.

While the Kings do have some really good high-end players offensively (Anze Kopitar, Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield) they need more help when it comes to their secondary scoring.

They finished the regular season just 17th in the league in goals per game and were especially bad in the second half of the season. From January 1 until the end of the regular season, they dropped all the way down to 24th in the league in goals per game.

None of that is good enough to get them where they want to be, or should be by this point in their rebuild.