*Photo from St. Louis Game Time*
Left wing Pavel Buchnevich and the St. Louis Blues have agreed to a 6 year, $48 million contract extension, according to an announcement by the Blues.
In 2024-2025, Buchnevich will make $5.8 million with a no trade clause in the last year of his current deal. The new deal starts in 2025-2026 and pays him $8 million annually with a full no trade clause for the first 4 years. He has a modified no trade clause in the form of a 20 team no trade list in year 5 and a 15 team no trade list in the last year.
St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong said of the extension "Our goal is to have the players maximize their prime, and I think Buch can do this, but the actuary tables say not everyone does it. So you're looking out moving forward, and I just think that's just the cost of doing business in today's NHL."
Last season, Buchnevich had another productive campaign for the Blues. He had 27 goals and 36 assists to his name for 63 points, averaging 19:49 of ice time per game to go with a +3 rating in 80 games as the Blues failed to make the playoffs.
The 27 goals and 36 assists for Buchnevich last season were good for second best among all Blues skaters in those categories, while also finishing 3rd in points. Acquired from the New York Rangers in exchange for Sammy Blais before the 2021-2022 season, Buchnevich has set new career highs offensively with the Blues and will become the team's 3rd highest paid player when his extension kicks in.
St. Louis head coach Drew Bannister said of Buchnevich "He's been an outstanding player for us. He's going to be a big player for us moving forward. He's a corner piece to our success and what we're trying to do here. He's been a big part of the success that we've had, or we're trying to have, and we believe in him. He believes in us, too, and what we're trying to do here, so, excited to have him back."
Buchnevich has played for the Rangers and Blues in his 8 seasons in the league. He has 162 goals and 239 assists for 401 points, playing in 517 regular season games while averaging 17:17 of ice time per game. He has an additional one goal and 11 assists in 20 playoff games.
On the same day as the extension for Buchnevich, the Blues also traded for forwards Radek Faksa and Mathieu Joseph in separate trades. A day later, they signed defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Mathieu's brother, to a one year contract.
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