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New York Rangers: Pavel Buchnevich Signing in the KHL is a Misfortune

By Anthony Russo

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With a tight salary cap situation for the New York Rangers, Pavel Buchnevich choosing to sign in the KHL makes decision making for the Rangers harder.

Just over a month ago, one of the New York Rangers top prospects, Pavel Buchnevich re-signed a KHL contract to return for another year. This makes matters more challenging for Rangers forward Martin St Louis, who did not seem too confident about resigning with the Rangers. According to Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault, Rangers assistant gm Jeff Gorton had meetings with St Louis explaining that it was going to be tough to keep him due to the current salary cap situation.

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If Buchnevich hadn’t signed in the KHL for another year and signed an entry level contract with the Rangers instead, Buchnevich might have been able to crack a spot on the opening night roster. Buchnevich would only be making the max salary of $925,000 for probably at least two years, which would’ve been a bargain.

Even if Buchnevich did not crack the opening night roster, he would still remain an option for a season call up at any time. Instead, the Rangers may have a huge hole to fill if they aren’t able work a deal out with Martin St Louis.

Of course former Rangers forward Anthony Duclair could’ve been the lead guy in line to replace St Louis, but Glen Sather yet again, could not help but make another massive trade deadline blockbuster deal.

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    • The Rangers are now in need of a player who is capable of playing in their top two lines at a low expense, due to the Rangers tight salary cap situation. For the Rangers to be elite contenders again they need to find somebody that can replace Martin St Louis’ playmaking ability or a pure sniper like Buchnevich.

    Young forwards and both restricted free agents on the Rangers such as, J.T Miller and Jesper Fast, probably won’t cut a top six role on a cup contending team. Miller and Fast are much better suited for the bottom six to add depth to the Rangers.

    If the Rangers were smart, the first thing they should do is find a trading partner for Dan Boyle and terminate his cap hit, to free up some cap space. That won’t be easy however because Boyle has both a no move and a no trade clause.

    Nevertheless, Pavel Buchnevich signing for another year in the KHL is a huge misfortune for the Rangers.

    Next: Why Trading Nash Would Be a Mistake

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