Doug Armstrong wouldn't say whether there was interest in Pavel Buchnevich leading up to Friday's NHL Trade Deadline, but the St. Louis Blues general manager indicated he's been very pleased with the forward's play and is interested in a contract extension. The forward wasn't moved, and Buchnevich's name had been rumored for weeks now leading up to Friday's 2 p.m. (CT) as a potential trade candidate, and the reasons being that Buchnevich, who leads the Blues with 24 goals this season, has one more year on his current four-year, $23.2 million contract he signed following being traded to the Blues by the New York Rangers on July 27, 2021. Doug Armstrong open to extension talks with Pavel Buchnevich "Like all of our players, he's eligible for a contract extension on July 1st," Armstrong said via Zoom on Friday. "There's no real rush to get the cart ahead of that horse. We're going to play the season out. Obviously he's been nothing but a pleasant player since he's been here. He's been a top player for us, he performs well every night, he's a player that has stature in the league and stature on our team. He's a valuable piece of our team right now and in July, we can sit down with he and his representative and make sure that he wants to be here and we can work something out." Sure, that will of course depend on Buchnevich's feelings about the organization and if he would entertain testing the free agent waters next summer or want to stay in St. Louis. But Buchnevich, who has a modified 12-team, no-trade clause in his current contract, has been exceptional in his three years in St. Louis; he has 191 points (80 goals, 111 assists) in 197 regular-season games having solid chemistry primarily playing with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. But this is heading towards the second straight year without the playoffs for the Blues (32-28-3), who are six points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild card from the Western Conference. The feeling is Buchnevich, who carries a very reasonable $5.8 million average annual value on his contract, could command in the neighborhood, give or take, of $7.5-$8.5 million on a new contract and the Blues wouldn't want to afford it when he's 30 when a new contract would kick in, but that's not the indication Armstrong gave. "I've been a big fan of Buchnevich since he's got here," Armstrong said. "He's in that echelon of players that takes up a large chunk of your cap for a reason. He's a top-end player, not a superstar player, not a Connor [McDavid] or a Leon [Draisaitl], but he's in a tier where he makes teams better. He's a player I have a ton of respect for and I look forward to chatting with him." Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAyODg4NjQ1ODM1NzYwNzA4/img_6513.jpg]
