New York Rangers: Sky’s the limit for Buchnevich after strong finish

Expectations have always been high for Pavel Buchnevich, and the New York Rangers will be expecting big things from their asset heading into next year.

After finishing 2018-19 with a flourish for the New York Rangers, Buchnevich has proven that his ceiling is sky high and he does in fact possess all the tools needed to become a consistent top six performer in the NHL.

Posing as an enigma for large chunks of his career in the Big Apple, questions have been raised over just how good the Russian forward can really become.

Since his selection as the 75th overall pick in the 2014 draft, he has shown in flashes of brilliance that he has the ability to morph into an elite top-six NHL playmaker, who can make his team tick and brings a thunderous slapshot to the table to boot.

However, Buchnevich has also displayed a frustrating tendency to disappear during games, to almost become a nonentity at times.

Of course, it is important to note that at just 23-years-old it should be considered normal and expected that Buchnevich will hit a number of speed bumps along the way.

That is par for the course.

Rangers Head Coach David Quinn, known for his tough love approach with his players, wasn’t afraid to sit or bench Buchnevich when he felt necessary, often citing the Russian forward’s bad habits with and without the puck.

Now, let’s get one thing straight before we move on; Buchnevich is still young and will continue to suffer the odd setback along the way – even the greats endure slumps at various points in their careers. 

But the general feeling around Buchnevich is a lot more positive now than it was only a few months ago, and that’s down to how he finally put it all together in the closing stages of 2018-19.

Playing mostly on the top line alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad in the last month or so of the year, Buchnevich exploded offensively and also showed signs that he had started to tidy up the defensive aspects of his game.

Let’s focus on the offensive production for now.

With only 11 points to his name heading into 2019, Buchnevich finally sat up and paid attention to the lessons hammered into him by Quinn, going on to reap the rewards in stunning fashion.

He tallied seven points over a six-game span in mid-February and then embarked on a career-high six-game point streak (three goals, three assists) at the tail-end of March.

Not only that but Buchnevich potted 20 goals for the first time in his NHL career, finishing the year with 38 points (21 goals, 17 assists), twelve power play points and registering the 100th point of his NHL career in the process.

This neat little comparison perhaps best sums up Buchnevich’s superb production in the latter part of the season, however.

After his first 38 games in 18-19 Buchnevich had nine goals, 1.4 shots per game and 14:30 of average ice time.

But, in the last 25 games of the year he put up twelve goals, averaged 2.5 shots per game and logged 16:09 of average ice time.

Quite an impressive overnight transformation and the biggest difference was that he looked to shoot rather than pass, buying into Quinn’s shoot first philosophy.

But he didn’t just shoot the puck more, he also showed a willingness to roll his sleeves up and get to the dirty areas of the ice, which resulted in more ice time and added responsibility from his head coach.

Now comes the important part.

Inconsistency has ravaged Buchnevich’s career to date and he must find a way of eradicating a large portion of the bad nights where he completely disappears if he is to one day find himself in the upper echelons of the true greats in the NHL.

If he can add that consistency to his game and have more good nights than bad in 2019-20, then he will be well on his way to proving that he can be trusted as a regular and productive top six forward.

Another interesting caveat is the fact he will enter training camp as a restricted free agent and how the Rangers handle any potential contract negotiations before next season will say a lot about the franchise’s belief in his ability to continue where he left off.

Buchnevich has set the standard now for both what he is capable of and what we should expect to see from him – only he can seize the initiative and back up the belief that he can become an elite playmaker in the NHL.

He certainly made a strong start to proving that in the second half of 18-19 and he’s set himself up for a big year in 2019-20.

Over to you, Buch.