Pavel Buchnevich has had a great rookie season with the New York Rangers this year. He has seen plenty of action in both the NHL and AHL. Here is a preview into what the rest of his season should look like.
Buchnevich has exceeded the New York Rangers’ expectations through his first 29 games at the NHL level. He has tallied seven goals and nine assists through just 29 games. Including a musket ball slapper last week in Boston.
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Year in Review
The 21-year-old from Russia has had injury issues through the season that have hindered his number of games played. He missed roughly two months of time with a back ailment. It’s likely the team took their time with Buchnevich, rather than rushing him and risking re-injury.
At the end of February, Buchnevich was either a healthy scratch or down in the AHL affiliate in Hartford. From late-January through February, Buchnevich wasn’t playing particularly well. He tallied just one point in 12 games between Jan. 22 and Feb. 21.
His lack of scoring luster landed him as a healthy scratch for a couple of games and he was eventually sent down to the AHL to work on building his confidence back up.
He was called back up to the NHL on March 2nd to play against Boston, where he notched a goal. He remains on the roster for now while Michael Grabner and Jesper Fast nurse injuries.
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Looking Ahead
When Grabner and Fast return, two players will have to down to Hartford. Tanner Glass will certainly be one, but the other could be Buchnevich.
Alain Vigneault has been as unpredictable as can be with the lineup this season. Between Buchnevich’s recent up and down and Adam Clendening’s consistent question mark status, it’s hard to gauge what AV will do.
Fast will be out for a couple more weeks, so that will keep Buchnevich up at least until Fast is healthy.
It would be smart to let Buchnevich operate at the NHL season for the rest of the year and into the playoffs.
Buchnevich does not have a ton of experience playing hockey in North America. His 29 starts for the Rangers and four starts for the Wolf Pack are all he has. The adjustment will go a lot smoother if he is playing at the highest level; especially because he has shown he is can handle the pace of play.
The Rangers like to give young players playoff experience too. Chris Kreider made his NHL debut in the playoffs in 2012, scoring five goals and two assists through 18 games. Brady Skjei played in the playoffs in 2016 too, despite playing just seven regular season games that year.
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It doesn’t seem likely that the New York Rangers will leave Buchnevich out of their spring plans. He could use the experience and the team could use his explosiveness too. It will simply come down to whether or not he is the odd man out.