confirmed: Rangers Trade Pavel Buchnevich to STL for Sammy Blais, 2022 2nd-Round Pick

Alternatively, the rumor the other day about going after Coleman might have legs as well. Drury might be looking at this as Coleman + Blais for roughly the cap hit Buchnevich was going to cost.

That I'd hope not. Had it been Kreider moved instead of Buch then I'd be receptive to it.

I believe Blais came up as a center, as well...?

@Drew a Penalty ?

Don’t really know much about Blais but this team is definitely starting to look more rugged. I’ll miss Buch though. He really picked up his play tremendously this year.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Incompetent.

:Broke cherry.gif:

I believe Blais came up as a center, as well...?

 

@Drew a Penalty ?

He's very much a wing.

He's very much a wing.

Incompetent.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

The Blues had just gone over 16 minutes without a shot on goal in the opposition's building in the most important game in their history in need of a jolt.

 

Whether it be a hit, a shot on goal, a goal actually, anything to provide a spark, it was needed badly.

 

Sammy Blais provided it with a thunderous check on Boston Bruins forward Noel Acciari along the boards that created a turnover and loose puck with 3 minutes 25 seconds left in the first period of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

 

Twelve seconds later, the puck was in the net, courtesy of a Ryan O'Reilly redirection to make it 1-0, and you know the rest, as the Blues celebrated their first Stanley Cup with a 4-1 win.

 

The goal was nice. It was needed, but what about the play that set it all up? The Blues' human wrecking ball has laid his hits wisely and made them timely.

 

Make no mistake, the hit laid by Blais on Acciari was, in fact, not a mistake. This is who the Montmagny, Quebec native has become in the NHL. This is what was needed from Blais to make his name in the league. But it wasn't always like that.

 

Coming from the junior ranks, specifically, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where offense rules and defense and playing a physical nature more or less takes a back seat, Blais was indeed a scoring wizard in Victoriaville but had to adjust to make a consistent living in the NHL.

 

It wasn't easy.

 

A sixth round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, Blais changed his game to be more of a physical, forechecking forward that creates time and space for his teammates. The learning curve was challenging in the beginning, and the pipeline between St. Louis and San Antonio, Blais was the expert at it.

 

Fast forward to 2020, and judging by training camp 2.0 here at Centene Community Ice Center, Blais is forming into a well-rounded player again, focusing as much of his time on offense as he does on the physical part of his game.

Blais, who has 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 83 NHL games over three seasons, isn't necessarily mistaking teammates for opponents in drills and scrimmages thus far but isn't holding back either; he had 155 hits this season, or 18.48 hits per 60 minutes, which ranked third in the league this season for players who played at least 40 games behind Vegas' Ryan Reaves (26.32) and New York Islanders' Matt Martin (25.32).

 

In fact, scouts from around the league have taken notice in Blais' ability to check to force turnovers and hits that lead to goals. He's been touted as the best on the Blues in both categories.

 

"A ton of skill as we see every day in practice and in the games," Bozak said. "A big body who's hard to move off the the puck and a guy who's a lot of fun to play with, creates a lot of plays from 1-on-1's, which is not an easy thing to do. He can beat a lot of defenders 1-on-1 and then make good plays after that.

https://www.ksdk.com/article/sports/nhl/blues/from-scoring-threat-to-nhl-wrecking-ball-blais-continues-to-ascend-up-ladder-for-blues/63-b14af8a1-8361-4a68-9da8-f5ed10169c77

It's pretty clear why they got someone like Blais. He's built for Gallant's style of hockey. People said go out and find the next Goodrow and the Rangers did that. He's also not completely without upside. I think he's been thrown into a situation that benefits him.

I'm not sure I understand the negativity for this one. The reality is that Buch has been a high value top 6 winger because he plays average top 6 hockey while making bottom 6 $. That will no longer be true after this summer. I like the guy as much as anyone but this is not a coveted asset in the league. If he played this way two years ago we're having an entirely different conversation.

Not to beat the dead horse either, but this must be looked at as Buch for Blais, 2nd + whatever portion of whomever eats up the space we cleared, which really is a fine return.

I'm gong to let this play out and see what the next 2 or 3 moves are prior to passing judgement.

 

Just for fun...

 

http://www.blueshirtsbrotherhood.com/showthread.php?18140-Rangers-Trade-F-Derick-Brassard-2018-7th-to-OTT-for-F-Mika-Zibanejad-2018-2nd

Lol. I think this is the move. My initial reaction was, "okay, I guess Blais is a 3rd liner..." Then I look up his numbers and see that Vince has him listed on the 4th and I'm pretty underwhelmed. I'm not really a huge fan of Buchnevich, TBH. I don't think he's a 1st liner on a good team. I just don't really know anything about Sammy Blais and from the inital look at the stats, I'm not sure he and a 2nd was enough.

Time will tell.

Lol. I think this is the move. My initial reaction was, "okay, I guess Blais is a 3rd liner..." Then I look up his numbers and see that Vince has him listed on the 4th and I'm pretty underwhelmed. I'm not really a huge fan of Buchnevich, TBH. I don't think he's a 1st liner on a good team. I just don't really know anything about Sammy Blais and from the inital look at the stats, I'm not sure he and a 2nd was enough.

 

Time will tell.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Lol. I think this is the move. My initial reaction was, "okay, I guess Blais is a 3rd liner..." Then I look up his numbers and see that Vince has him listed on the 4th and I'm pretty underwhelmed. I'm not really a huge fan of Buchnevich, TBH. I don't think he's a 1st liner on a good team. I just don't really know anything about Sammy Blais and from the inital look at the stats, I'm not sure he and a 2nd was enough.

 

Time will tell.

I think Buch is an ideal 2nd line player. He wont ever drive a line but hes a nice accent piece to talent. He has also improved every single year he has been here and is steady on the other end of the puck.

Blais is an energy guy. I dont know how good defensively he is or if he can PK or anything else but they basically gave up some scoring for some grit here. Which is fine.

Ive calmed down a bit from my initial reaction to this. Its probably not as lopsided as it initially seems, I think people were just expecting a bigger return.

We got grittier. A top 6 spot just opened up for Laf/Kakko/Kravtsov. And cap space is always a plus.

I'd feel a lot better with a 3rd rounder thrown in too but whatever

Freidman on NHL network:

Cap move, need to resign Shesty now. Zib and Fox next year. Laf, Kakko, Krav deals looming as well. Helping change identity adding Blais, and Goodrow, a bonus.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

This says the Horvat rumor was false, IMO.

Of course it was. Every fan over values players on the team they root for.

The biggest thing people are missing here is that the money makes the trade hard. The Rangers want to trade Buch without taking back money. That destroys his value. Not many teams have the cap room to add $5-6M in salary.

http://www.sportsforecaster.com/nhl/player/10954

 

^never heard of this website before but never the less...

I like the sound of this we need to get harder to play against:

SCOUTING REPORT

Plays in-your-face hockey and is a beast on the forecheck. Is a solid hitter and a major disruptive force when on the ice. Was a dynamic offensive player with a history of strong point production at lower levels but is more of a role player in the National Hockey League. Injuries are part of the game with his rambunctious style. Can play either wing position and is equally effective on both sides.

Long Range Potential: Energetic, agitating winger with some upside.

Sorry but no.

 

You dont sell you house for less because you may or may not win the lottery.

 

Plain and simple Drury did not get fair value for an asset.

isnt fair value what you can get from another team? Maybe this was their best offer. Im sure Drury was working the phones before he pulled the trigger

isnt fair value what you can get from another team? Maybe this was their best offer. Im sure Drury was working the phones before he pulled the trigger

I still think he could have gotten a bit more but I’ve since calmed down a bit regarding the return.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Some people are excited that they just got Brendan Lemieux with a different name.

You can't justify this.