The St. Louis Blues aren't wasting much time as we enter a new league year in the NHL. They finished the 2023-24 season just shy of a .500 record and are hoping to improve next season. St. Louis has missed the playoffs two years in a row and hasn't been the same after winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. The team has already made a pair of moves to improve their team, including inking one of their better players to a new deal.
Earlier today, the Blues announced that they have signed forward Pavel Buchnevich to a six-year contract extension. It is worth $48 million with a $8 million average annual value.
Buchnevich is still under contract for the 2024-25 season, so the extension kicks in starting with the 2025-26 season.
Buchnevich has been a good player for the Blues ever since they traded for him from the Rangers in 2021. The 29-year-old recorded 27 goals and 36 assists in 80 regular-season games this season. It was his third consecutive season eclipsing 25 goals and 60 points. He is also one of only 22 NHL players with at least 200 points and a plus-45 rating since the 2021-22 season.
Buchnevich has exceeded expectations in his NHL career. The New York Rangers drafted him with the 75th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. He has since played in 517 career games, logging 162 goals and 401 points.
Buchnevich hails from Cherepovets, Russia and has represented his home country at the 2018 World Championship in Denmark.
Blues fans should expect Buchnevich to stick around in St. Louis for the rest of his professional career.
Blues acquire Alexandre Texier from Blue Jackets in sign-and-trade last week
The Buchnevich extension is not the only move that the Blues have made recently.
Last week, the team acquired forward Alexandre Texier from the Columbus Blue Jackets and immediately signed him to a new contract.
“Congratulations to Alexandre Texier of [Blues] on signing 2 year contract extension!” Texier's agent Dan Milstein wrote on X.
Pro Hockey Rumors' Josh Erickson praised St. Louis for making a solid trade.
“Blues general manager Doug Armstrong does solid work here to pick up a solid depth-checking forward for a mid-round pick,” Erickson said. “The extension is quite reasonable, to boot. It comes in slightly lower than Evolving Hockey’s two-year, $2.33MM AAV projection.”
The Blues sent a 2025 fourth-round pick for Texier, which is a solid investment for a depth forward of his caliber. Texier has appeared in 201 games since the 2018-19 NHL season. He has logged 34 goals and 79 points in that span.
Texier spent the 2022-23 season playing for the ZSC Lions in Switerland's National League because he wanted to be closer to family. He logged 35 points in 46 games with the Lions.
The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Texier in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft. He eventually earned a role as a decent depth forward. He had his best season in 2023-24, putting up 12 goals and 30 points in 78 games played.
The Blues liked him enough to send away a draft pick and pay him a two-year, $4.2 million contract.
It may not be a sexy acquisition, but players like Texier help flesh out the bottom of a roster and can help St. Louis get over the hump.
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