It has been rumored for most of the season, and it finally become true today when SKA St. Petersburg announced to have signed Pavel Buchnevich from Severstal Cherepovets. With Severstal out of the playoff race, it makes sense for them to get some good money to try rebuilding for next season. But of course, this hasn’t been the only reason to sell their best player. “It isn’t a secret that Pavel will go to the NHL soon,” Severstal GM Alexei Koznev commented on Severstal’s official site. “It was just a matter of time, there was no chance to keep him for next season,” he added.
Buchnevich is a product of Severstal academy and played in Cherepovets his whole career thus far. With Team Russia he won a bronze and a silver medal at WJC level.
His move to SKA is a good opportunity short-term, as he willl be able to play for a contending team and gain some much-needed playoff experience. He will also get a better shot at making the national team as playing for SKA he will surely have more exposition, even if it’s to be expected to see his TOI going down as he’ll have to share it with many other stars. Buchnevich only played six post-season games at KHL level, in the 2012-13 season. This year Buchnevich scored 12 goals and 29 points in 40 regular season games.
“We gave Pavel a good opportunity to further develop his career, to become better for the Russian national team and to become an NHL player,” Koznev added. Rangers fan can thus expect the young Russian to sign a contract this summer, hardly he will sign earlier, because SKA will most likely have a long playoff run. And Buchnevich may be called for the IIHF WC on home soil in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
[RELATED: Pavel Buchnevich Not Interested In AHL]