The New York Rangers have seen their season expire and are amongst us, watching the beauty of the 2024-25 Stanley Cup Playoffs from the sidelines. There have been overtime winners, blowout victories, and one hat-trick. An improbable candidate scored that hat-trick.
Guess what? He was a former Ranger.
In the St. Louis Blues dominating 7-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the Western Conference playoff bracket, Pavel Buchnevich ripped the Presidents' Trophy winners open with three goals. Seeing his continued success in St. Louis begs the question: Did the Rangers brass get it right in trading him?
Did Drury get it right?
When Chris Drury became the highest-ranking member of the Rangers front office and assumed the role of President and General Manager replacing John Davidson and Jeff Gorton, the trade involving Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues for Sammy Blais and a second-round selection in 2022 was one of his first moves. Coincidentally, in a very short timespan after Drury signed his extension to stay on with the Rangers, Buchnevich lit up one of the best teams in hockey.
Did the Rangers get it right when dealing with Buchnevich? Since the trade, in 292 games played, the Rangers' former top-line winger has 103 goals and 160 assists for 263 points. Compared to his five seasons in New York, which was 301 games played with 79 goals and 116 assists for 195 points, he is benefiting from the change of scenery. Leaving the Rangers faithful was the best thing to happen to him. And, seemingly, he may have found his footing had he stayed with the Rangers, or maybe he would have been the same player getting points at a rate of mid-40s to low 50s.
Happy for Pavel
All Rangers fans should be ecstatic about Buchnevich's success. He was a fantastic player in this organization, and his tenure should not be clouded with misjudgment from the front office. How was he supposed to try to get comfortable with the pressure of losing his place in the organization with every passing season?
The Blues and their fans have greatly benefited from Buchnevich's presence on their squad. His hat-trick in game three will go down in Blues playoff lore and will certainly be a highlight of his career.