Pavel Buchnevich

History

2011-12: Pavel Buchnevich Almaz Cherepovets of Russia’s MHL. In 45 games for that club, he scored 15 goals and added 29 assists for 44 points while picking up 55 penalty minutes and a +15 rating. In 10 playoff games for Almaz, Buchnevich scored 4 goals and chipped in 3 assists for 7 points. Buchnevich played for Russia at the 2012 World U17 Hockey Challenge, picking up 1 assist in 5 games for the gold medal winners.

2012-13: Buchnevich spent the majority of the season with Almaz Cherepovets. In 24 games for that team, he scored 8 goals and added 15 assists for 23 points to go along with 36 penalty minutes. In 3 playoff games for that club, Buchnevich scored 1 goal and tallied 4 assists for 5 points. Buchnevich also saw his first action in Russia’s top league, the KHL, playing for Severstal Cherepovets. In 12 games for that club, he scored 1 goal and picked up 1 assist for 2 points. Buchnevich didn’t register any points in 6 playoff games for Severstal. Buchnevich played for Russia at the 2013 U18 World Junior Championship, picking up 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in 7 games.

2013-14: Buchnevich was the fourth-leading scorer for Severstal Cherepovets in the KHL as an 18-year-old and played for the Russia U20 team at the 2014 World Junior Championship. In 40 games for Severstal he scored 7 goals with 11 assists and was -1 with 12 penalty minutes, averaging 12:32 minutes of ice time. The club finished fifth in the Tarasov Division, missing the KHL playoffs. Buchnevich also played for the Almaz Cherepovets junior team. He played two regular season games and seven playoff games with Almaz, scoring 4 goals with 7 assists and finishing +7 with 14 penalty minutes. Buchnevich scored 2 goals with 5 assists and was +3 with 18 penalty minutes in seven games for Russia at the World Juniors. Russia finished third, defeating Canada, 2-1, in the bronze medal game. 

2014-15: Buchnevich was Severstal’s third-leading scorer in his second KHL season and was part of the silver medal-winning Russia U20 team at the 2015 World Juniors. He scored 13 goals with 17 assists in 48 games and was +8 with 16 penalty minutes, averaging 16 minutes of ice time for Cherepovets. The club missed the playoffs for the second straight season, finishing three poitns behind Sochi in the Tarasov Division. Buchnevich scored 1 goal with 5 assists and was -1 with 2 penalty minutes in seven games for Russia at the WJC. Russia reached the gold medal game, falling 5-4 to Canada. Buchnevich skated for Almaz Cheropovets in the MHL playoffs, scoring 8 goals with 12 assists in 11 games.

2015-16: Buchnevich returned to Severstal for his third KHL season and skated in 40 games with Cherepovets betore being acquired by SKA St. Petersburg in December 2015. He scored 12 goals with 17 assists and was -6 with 20 penalty minutes in 40 games for Severstal prior to the trade. Skating for an SKA squad that finished second to Jokerit in the Bobrov Division, he scored 4 goals with 4 assists and had an even plus/minus with 4 penalty minutes in 18 regular season games, averaging 12:16 minutes of ice time. SKA advanced to the Western Conference finals, falling to CSKA Moscow. Buchnevich scored 1 goal with 2 assists in 14 playoff games, finishing with an even plus/minus and 29 penalty minutes and averaging 12:37 minutes of ice time. 

Talent Analysis

Buchnevich has excellent speed with a very good set of hands. A very interesting prospect with an impressive ceiling, he is small but makes things happen with his speed and skills. Buchnevich can take needless penalties though at inopportune moments and needs to be more responsible defensively to be successful in North America. A very good playmaker with excellent vision, Buchnevich has the potential to be a first line player in the NHL.

Future

Buchnevich returned to the KHL for the 2015-16 season — starting the season with Severstal Cherepovets before being acquired by SKA St. Petersburg in December. The move from his hometown club to SKA fueled speculation that he was close to signing a contract with the Rangers and coming to North America for 2016-17 but nothing official has happened as of April 2016. The 21-year-old is expected to be an impact player at the NHL level though he may not be the consistent scorer of some of the other top young Russian forwards.