Pavel Buchnevich is staring at a pivotal season as the Blues keep shifting toward a younger core.
St. Louis is moving into a new phase, with much of the old steady core already gone and a roster now built around players under 25 and the prospects climbing behind them.
Buchnevich is one of the few familiar names still standing from the previous group, but that doesn’t mean his place is secure. In fact, the upcoming season could be the one that decides whether he remains part of the Blue Note or becomes a move the Blues have to make.
The pressure is easy to see. Buchnevich’s production has slipped every year since he arrived in St.
Louis in 2021-22, when he posted a career-high 76 points. Last season, he managed 48 points in 81 games in 2025-26, and that kind of drop-off is hard to ignore for a player expected to drive offense.
If that trend continues, the Blues may have no choice but to move him. This is a year that matters not just for Buchnevich, but for how St.
Louis sorts out its roster and decides who fits when the team is ready to contend again. He needs to show he still belongs in that picture with a strong season.
For a player labeled as a goal-scorer, getting back above 30 goals should be the baseline. Even if he doesn’t reach that number, pushing into the high-60s or low-70s in points would still count as a major step in the right direction.
There’s also the money side of it. Buchnevich is a top-six forward carrying an $8 million AAV, and a 2025-26 season that cost the Blues $166,667 per point isn’t the kind of return that works for long, especially with so many signings looming as the end of the 2026-27 season approaches. He could also end up blocking the path for a prospect such as Justin Carbonneau or Dmitri Buchelnikov.
So the assignment for Buchnevich is clear. Attack offensively, put up the kind of season that forces the Blues to keep him in the plan, and avoid becoming the player replaced by someone making his NHL debut.
That’s the reality hanging over him now, and it’s the kind of pressure that could light a fire under No. 89.
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Why Tynan Lawrence Feels Like A Blues Pick For The Future
The Blues used their first-round pick to add another piece to the middle of the ice, taking Tynan Lawrence as part of a clear push to deepen a center group that already has several moving parts. A left-handed shot with success at multiple levels, Lawrence brings the kind of two-way profile teams like to bet on when they are trying to build something that can last beyond one season.
What makes the pick more interesting for St. Louis is that Lawrence is not being viewed as a distant project. He is expected to get a look in training camp, where he will be trying to carve out a role alongside a crowded group that includes Dalibor Dvorsky, Pius Suter, Connor McMichael and Mason McTavish. For a Blues team trying to shape a young core around its next championship window, that is exactly the sort of competition that can tell you a lot about how quickly the future might arrive. [Read more 🡒]