The young Russian’s first NHL season has exceeded expectations. Halfway through, let’s take a look at how its gone so far.
The New York Rangers have a young, budding star on their hands, and his name is Pavel Buchnevich.
Drafted in 2013 (75th overall), there was much hype coming into Buchnevich’s rookie season. His talent level and his numbers as a young player in the KHL put high expectations on him coming to North America. So far, that pick has looked like a major steal, and the hype has been justified: Pavel Buchnevich has six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 16 games.
Often, rookies coming over from Europe have an adjustment period to go through, as the game there is different in some ways. The ice in the KHL is larger, leading to more time and space for skating and playmaking to occur, and the game is much more reliant on skill and skating than it is based on physicality.
With this in mind, no one could have expected to see Buchnevich at just under a point per game through his first 16 NHL contests.
The long-term injury doesn’t seem to have slowed Buchnevich down, either. If anything, he actually appears to have come back better than ever. Before missing 27 games to a protruding disc, Buchnevich was sporting a four-game goal scoring streak. Since returning from that injury, he had tallied points in each of the first four games, scoring 2 goals and 4 assists in that span.
Buchnevich’s Unreal Skill
The most impressive thing about Buchnevich’s game is his incredible vision and passing. Despite playing on an ice surface where he has less time and space to make plays, he seems to be able to do so consistently with poise and precision.
It isn’t even crazy to consider him the second best passer on this Rangers team. His extra KHL season also helped to improve his two-way game, which has helped immensely in his transition to the NHL. He also boasts a very hard, accurate wrist shot, though he could stand to use it a little bit more often than he does.
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For the sake of comparison, it is interesting to look at the rookie goal totals for recent KHL transplants to the NHL. Vladimir Tarasenko scored 8 goals in 38 games as a rookie before becoming the great sniper we know him as today.
Kuznetsov scored 11 goals in 80 games in his first full NHL season despite already having NHL experience the year before, coming over early from the KHL. Buchnevich is on pace to surpass both of those totals by a pretty hefty margin despite missing 27 games to injury. On pace to play 55 games this season, he is currently producing at a 23 goal pace.
Winning Vigneault’s Trust
He also appears to have won over the trust of Alain Vigneault, playing in crunch time situations, final minutes of games, and playing the point on the power play as of late. Vigneault has praised his ability to learn both the game and the English language as quickly as he has, and that confidence in him has certainly had a lasting impact on Buchnevich’s adaptation.
Buchnevich has even grabbed the attention of scouts overseas. A Team Russia scout, Sergei Fedotov, implied in a Russian article this week that Buchnevich has progressed considerably faster than anyone could have expected, and compared his style of play to Marian Hossa. Surely Rangers fans and management alike would not complain if Buchnevich has a career of that magnitude.
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Should he remain healthy, the Rangers can only expect Buchnevich to get better as he gains more experience in North America. His style is exciting and his play has been electrifying when he’s had the opportunity.
He will be a vastly important piece, and quite likely the most important piece up front, of the New York Rangers’ future for years to come.