The St. Louis Blues opened training camp on Thursday. Many story lines surround the team in camp. However, the biggest might be forward Pavel Buchnevich and his willingness to play centre for the Blues this season.
Position Change Actually Started Two Seasons Ago
Late in the 2022-23 season, the Blues, knowing they would not be in the playoffs, decided to shake things up in their lineup. One of their decisions was to have Buchnevich play centre. The idea of Buchnevich playing centre continued into the following season, even after Drew Bannister took over the head coaching job.
While Buchnevich’s winning percentage (37.4%) on the dot was still below average, there were signs the forward was improving. Part of Buchnevich’s improvement should be credited to Robert Thomas, who worked with Buchnevich to improve as a centre. Furthermore, the Blues found that their winning percentage as a team significantly increased when Buchnevich played centre.
Position Change Was Key Topic During Contract Talks
When the Blues and Buchnevich met over the summer to discuss a contract extension, one of the main topics discussed was Buchnevich playing centre to start the season.
“Honestly, they asked if I want to play center or I want to play wing,” Buchnevich recalled. “I said, ‘If I have to play center, I will play center. It’s not a big deal. Just get the two best (wingers) you can, and it’s fine.’”
The star forward signed a contract to remain a Blue Note. With training camp underway, it appears Buchnevich will be playing centre this season.
What Does This Mean for Buchnevich?
For starters, it shows how great of a teammate Buchnevich is. He has played on the wing his whole career. However, he is willing to do what it takes to help the Blues win.
Buchnevich’s dedication stands out even more when you realize what he is giving up by moving to centre. For starters, Buchnevich will no longer play alongside Robert Thomas, who recorded well over 50 assists last season. Buchnevich and Thomas have been a strong duo on the offence. It is possible Buchnevich may see a slight goal deduction as a result of moving to a new line. His goal scoring ability makes him someone who could reach the 40-goal mark while playing with Thomas on the top line. Playing on the second line as the centre, he will still score a nice 25-30 goals a season. However, it seems Buchnevich is willingly leaving goals off his total in order to help the team.
There is also the defensive responsibility of playing centre. Buchnevich has acknowledged the responsibility that comes with playing centre.
“It’s hard to play when you play one game at wing, one game at center,” he said. “When I play on the wing, I can read the game and go for odd-man rushes. At center, I have to be more responsible defensively, and when I get the puck, send my wingers to go. It’s like if you had to learn to write with your left hand. It just takes time.”
While it still needs to be determined in training camp and in the preseason, Buchnevich’s likely wingers on the second line will be Brandon Saad and either Brayden Schenn or Kasperi Kapanen. At camp on Thursday, Kapanen played on the wing.
What This Means For The Blues?
It seems the Blues have noticed the team’s winning percentage when Buchnevich is at centre. The team has a great deal of forward depth to experiment and see what happens. Professional sports, hockey included, have become so “numbers oriented” that it is not a surprise the Blues are making this move. If the winning percentage is high, why not keep trying it? Worse case scenario, the team can move Buchnevich back to the wing.
What has not been addressed by the team, at least not publicly, is if they are willing to trade the goal totals for a good centre. Buchnevich will still put up good numbers, but will the team want someone else to pick up the extra goals he is not scoring? Is the team hoping for Kapenan to be that guy? Is that why he was brought back? Or is the team looking at Dylan Holloway, Zachary Bolduc, or even Dalibor Dvorsky to step up? The Blues have been a good scoring team the past few seasons, but how does the position change affect that, it at all?
Of course, training camp and the preseason will help answer those questions. The Blues did not make this decision without assessing all the outcomes and butterfly effects. Buchnevich himself has even acknowledged the posiiton change may effect his scoring.
“Would you rather me score 40 goals and we don’t make the playoffs, or I score 10 goals and we make the playoffs?”
If Buchnevich does move back to the wing, the Blues could just slide Brayden Schenn back to centre. Newcomer Radek Faksa could also move up if needed.
The Ultimate Factor
The bottom line is the Blues will do what is best for the team. What is best for the team can change depending on the situation. Just because they are planning on Buchnevich playing centre now does not mean it will happen or last all season. If the team struggles to score, they may pair Buchnevich with Thomas again. An injury could also change things.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. This might just be the biggest story line of the Blues training camp and preseason.
Main Photo: Jeff Le-Imagn Images
