Blues Rumors: St. Louis is listening to trade offers on Pavel Buchnevich

The St. Louis Blues are listening to trade offers for winger Pavel Buchnevich, according to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman's written 32 thoughts blog.

Friedman says in his blog that the price for Buchnevich will be very high if he's moved and speculates the return in a trade could be at least two first-round picks.

Buchnevich was acquired from the New York Rangers in the summer of 2021 for Sammy Blais and a second-round pick. It's safe to say St Louis won this trade by a landslide as Buchnevich has scored over 25 goals and has averaged over a point per game in his first two seasons in St Louis.

The Blues don't have a reason to move Buchnevich unless an offer blows them away.

The St. Louis Blues may or may not trade Pavel Buchnevich this season

The Blues are in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference as well and if they believe playoffs are a possibility, then there is no reason to move him now.

With Buchnevich playing well in St Louis, why would the Blues want to trade him? Well, Buchnevich currently has a cap hit of 5.8 million per season.

For the excellent two-way game he plays, his age, and his consistency, that number is a steal. Buchnevich could easily command a contract of 8 years and 8.5-9 million per season on the open market.

With St Louis already committed to Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou for several years, it is questionable if GM Doug Armstrong would commit to Buchnevich at the same price. St Louis could get a haul if they move him now and losing him would hurt but it could help the franchise in the future.

The emergence of Jake Neighbours could also affect the Blues' decision on this. The 21-year-old has a breakout season going for the Blues with 19 goals in 55 games.

Neighbours already has 13 more goals than he did all of last season. Don't be surprised if he puts up Buchnevich-like production shortly.