What would a hypothetical trade for Pavel Buchnevich look like for the Sabres?
Trading for a winger like Pavel Buchnevich won’t come cheap for the Sabres, so expect some steep compensation should they make such a move.
If the Buffalo Sabres traded for Pavel Buchnevich, one of the downsides is that general manager Kevyn Adams would be giving up a good deal of compensation, ranging from draft picks to prospects and maybe even a player already with the big club. But we also need to remember the sense of urgency surrounding him, head coach Lindy Ruff, and the Sabres organization.
So if the Blue and Gold overpaid for Buchnevich should a trade commence, it would be worth doing so. As mentioned in yesterday’s piece, he’s a proven player who has excelled with not one but two organizations, and there is no reason he shouldn’t yield the same results with the Sabres.
Buchnevich would be an excellent fit in Buffalo, regardless of whether he played on the top line or alongside Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn or JJ Peterka on the second. So, to bring him to the Queen City, what does Adams need to specifically give up?
Sabres need a win-win situation with the Blues in a Pavel Buchnevich trade
Before we dive into what the package itself would look like, let’s talk about the state of the St. Louis Blues. General manager Doug Armstrong needs to make his team younger, especially at the blue line, and he must also acquire prospects at the same position. Therefore, someone in the Sabres defensive rotation or within the system would likely go to Gateway City.
Armstrong must also keep improving his overall prospects pool, which is currently ranking around the middle of the league. If Adams is willing to trade a first-round pick, and it’s a likely scenario, doing so would further entice Armstrong to move Buchnevich.
And if you paid any attention to the Blues this past season, you may have realized their scoring woes were worse than what the Sabres were going through. That said, a high-end A-prospect at forward would also be worth moving to Gateway City, preferably one close to being NHL-ready.
The ultimate trade package for Buchnevich
For a player of Buchnevich’s caliber, Kevyn Adams should have no qualms about trading his 2024 first-round pick. As implied in the previous section, there is no way Armstrong is accepting such a trade unless a first-rounder is involved, and the sooner he can use it, the better off the Sabres and the Blues are.
Let’s talk about the Sabres blue line vs. the Blues blue line. One is among the youngest in hockey, and the other has an average age of 30.3. Armstrong has no choice but for his defensive rotation to get younger if he wants the team to keep competing for a potential playoff spot when the likes of Justin Faulk, Torey Kurg, Colton Parayko, and Nick Leddy see their respective contracts close in on expiring.
But there won’t be a huge sense of urgency here, so let’s go with Nikita Novikov, someone who still needs to see time in Rochester but will evolve into an A-prospect if he hasn’t already done so.
This leaves a forward, and everyone in the NHL universe knows the Sabres have arguably the best group of forwards in their prospects pool. For this trade to occur, Armstrong would likely demand a prospect with high upside, so Noah Ostlund would be the lucky player since it would be tough to see Adams moving those like Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen, even in this situation. But Ostlund should at least debut in the NHL this season and become a full-time NHLer in 2025-26.
How this trade package benefits the Sabres and the Blues
Okay, so to give you an overall visual, here is what the actual trade package between the Sabres and Blues for Pavel Buchnevich would look like:
Buchnevich Trade
It looks like the Sabres are giving up a ton of compensation for Buchnevich, and since the Blues could see this as even more of an advantage to keep making over their lineup, it’s where Kevin Hayes hops into the picture. Hayes won 478 and 57.0 percent of his faceoffs last season, so he would give the Blue and Gold a huge help and strengthen another weakness.
Buffalo also gets potentially another top-scorer with Buchnevich coming to town, but the Blues will also benefit with what will be the No. 11 pick from the Sabres AND the No. 16 pick of their own in this draft. Noah Ostlund will find himself on NHL ice sooner than later, while Nikita Novikov is a high-end prospect on the blue line.
I also threw in Vsevolod Komarov to help further balance the deal. Sure, it looks like the Blues got quite a few prospects, a draft pick, and nothing more, but this trade isn’t too far off from the Jake Guentzel deal, except a first-round pick as opposed to what will be a second-rounder for Pittsburgh, is involved.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)