3 reasons the Sabres must trade for Pavel Buchnevich

Buchnevich would give the Sabres more defense in their forward group

The Sabres were better defensively last season, but much of that credit goes to their breakout goaltender, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. There were many times when the team still looked dysfunctional in the defensive zone, and you may recall several games when it felt like they were in their own end of the ice for far too long. 

Buchnevich is just one player, and his defense isn’t all-world, but he does enough that it would help the Sabres. Even before he arrived in St. Louis starting in the 2021-22 season, Buchnevich had gotten sticks on the puck often, logging over a half-takeaway per game since 2019-20. 

He would help the Sabres out on what was still an inconsistent but improved short-handed unit, and at even strength, his offensive-to-defensive zone starts ratio was nearly 50-50. This shows he can be trusted in the defensive zone, and thanks to a 52.8 percent Corsi For, it’s also evident that Buchnevich is good at helping his team create chances in the offensive zone. 

Let’s point out that the Blues were a below-average scoring team in 2023-24, and Buchnevich was still making an impact. Buffalo has far more scoring potential, and that alone would make Buchnevich’s play in the defensive zone more worthwhile to help a team like the Sabres regain puck possession and snag more time in the offensive zone.