Mr Novaks wrote: ↑18 Jul 2026 07:58 am
Let’s see how he does without being saddled with Kyrou as his linemate.
He does seem to press a bit much when he is slumping, and at times he seems a bit clumsy.
I’ve seen mock trades online where he goes to Carolina in the Nikishin trade.
The question is, is his contract worse than the Kotkaniemi contract??
My answer: It probably is not worse.
And for dsux...you hit on an important point that would likely help a few others that people are concerned about re bounce-back, or trend reversal, or whatever a person wants to call it: Stabilize the lines and let them work through it through familiarity and instinct.
Coach, set a general game plan and strategy, assemble lines and match lines during games...then get out of their way!
Mr Novaks wrote: ↑18 Jul 2026 07:58 am
Let’s see how he does without being saddled with Kyrou as his linemate.
He does seem to press a bit much when he is slumping, and at times he seems a bit clumsy.
I’ve seen mock trades online where he goes to Carolina in the Nikishin trade.
The question is, is his contract worse than the Kotkaniemi contract??
They aren't even comparable. Buchnevich can legitimately play top-6 and has for years. JK's contract value is lower but his ceiling appears bottom-6 and his recovery/effectiveness remains in question. He might be no better than a rotational guy with Finley, when he's available, or he might be an effective 3rd liner. Blues want more out of a 2nd line player than he has shown but I guess it's still possible that's his ultimate ceiling. Frankly, the Blues likely expect much more out of Dvorsky than Kotkaniemi has shown, and they now have MM in the middle and a crowd at left wing.
I think the Buchnevich at center experiment is finally over. And the cement shoe Kyrou is finally off of his line. I think he will hopefully not have to grip his stick so tight and choke on multiple plays. I would love for them to move him, but he’s a decent 200’ player. I think when he got slack for headbutting incident he stopped playing with a chip on his shoulder much.
Mr Novaks wrote: ↑18 Jul 2026 07:58 am
Let’s see how he does without being saddled with Kyrou as his linemate.
He does seem to press a bit much when he is slumping, and at times he seems a bit clumsy.
I’ve seen mock trades online where he goes to Carolina in the Nikishin trade.
The question is, is his contract worse than the Kotkaniemi contract??
They aren't even comparable. Buchnevich can legitimately play top-6 and has for years. JK's contract value is lower but his ceiling appears bottom-6 and his recovery/effectiveness remains in question. He might be no better than a rotational guy with Finley, when he's available, or he might be an effective 3rd liner. Blues want more out of a 2nd line player than he has shown but I guess it's still possible that's his ultimate ceiling. Frankly, the Blues likely expect much more out of Dvorsky than Kotkaniemi has shown, and they now have MM in the middle and a crowd at left wing.
Jesus.
While being no comparison. You use the fact JK played bottom six on the Stanley Cup Championship team. And pumped Buch because for three years in his whole career. He put up second line points.
By the way.
Buch played bottom six on a non playoff team(the Blues) last year. While I'm sure for you the cup winners are on the same level as the blues. But that's where there's no comparison.
Mr Novaks wrote: ↑18 Jul 2026 07:58 am
Let’s see how he does without being saddled with Kyrou as his linemate.
He does seem to press a bit much when he is slumping, and at times he seems a bit clumsy.
I’ve seen mock trades online where he goes to Carolina in the Nikishin trade.
The question is, is his contract worse than the Kotkaniemi contract??
They aren't even comparable. Buchnevich can legitimately play top-6 and has for years. JK's contract value is lower but his ceiling appears bottom-6 and his recovery/effectiveness remains in question. He might be no better than a rotational guy with Finley, when he's available, or he might be an effective 3rd liner. Blues want more out of a 2nd line player than he has shown but I guess it's still possible that's his ultimate ceiling. Frankly, the Blues likely expect much more out of Dvorsky than Kotkaniemi has shown, and they now have MM in the middle and a crowd at left wing.
Jesus.
While being no comparison. You use the fact JK played bottom six on the Stanley Cup Championship team. And pumped Buch because for three years in his whole career. He put up second line points.
By the way.
Buch played bottom six on a non playoff team(the Blues) last year. While I'm sure for you the cup winners are on the same level as the blues. But that's where there's no comparison.
Kotkaniemi played "left out". He was injured and on his return couldn't stay in the lineup, recurring effects or otherwise.
I think some people underestimate something. The last time the Blues were a real cup threat was '21-22.
Their top 9 forwards were
ROR
Schenn
Thomas
Perron
Tarasenko
Kyrou
Saad
Buch
Barbashev
That was a loaded team. The Blues haven't had anywhere near that kind of top 9 depth since then. Hell for a couple years Buch was playing top line. That's a big reason they haven't been nearly as good. Not nearly the depth.
If you look at what they plan to roll out this season, it's starting to resemble that kind of depth and ability to roll three scoring lines. It's not quite there. McTavish needs to rebound. Dvorsky needs to come on more. But they are building the depth back.
Buch will be much more effective as part of a deep group such as this.
UMR-alum-05 wrote: ↑18 Jul 2026 13:10 pm
I think some people underestimate something. The last time the Blues were a real cup threat was '21-22.
Their top 9 forwards were
ROR
Schenn
Thomas
Perron
Tarasenko
Kyrou
Saad
Buch
Barbashev
That was a loaded team. The Blues haven't had anywhere near that kind of top 9 depth since then. Hell for a couple years Buch was playing top line. That's a big reason they haven't been nearly as good. Not nearly the depth.
If you look at what they plan to roll out this season, it's starting to resemble that kind of depth and ability to roll three scoring lines. It's not quite there. McTavish needs to rebound. Dvorsky needs to come on more. But they are building the depth back.
Buch will be much more effective as part of a deep group such as this.
He’s certainly not as overpaid as he was 2 months ago!
He’s still a little overpaid but he has 5 years left at $8M. If he was a UFA this summer I bet he could’ve gotten close to that - probably something around 5 x $7M.
But we’re also not remotely close to cap hell so it really doesn’t matter a ton today. He’s still a solid 2nd line winger. And he’s going to go back to his preferred RW and almost certainly with more talented linemates. So good chance we see a slight rebound from him.
That said, I wasn’t a big fan of the re-signing when it happened at it was for his age 30-35 seasons and pretty much all players decline in that age range, with some declining very hard. So I wouldn’t be opposed to eventually trading him to try to avoid a potential deep decline. But that trade doesn’t have to happen now and with the rising cap, it’s more doable now and going forward. And will be even more doable if he rebounds a bit.
There’s absolutely no way I’d trade Buch away this summer u unless there’s someone else they can bring in to be a top-6 RW. We already traded Kyrou so we really can’t afford to trade away Buch for the sake of it.
STL fan in MN wrote: ↑18 Jul 2026 15:40 pm
He’s certainly not as overpaid as he was 2 months ago!
He’s still a little overpaid but he has 5 years left at $8M. If he was a UFA this summer I bet he could’ve gotten close to that - probably something around 5 x $7M.
But we’re also not remotely close to cap hell so it really doesn’t matter a ton today. He’s still a solid 2nd line winger. And he’s going to go back to his preferred RW and almost certainly with more talented linemates. So good chance we see a slight rebound from him.
That said, I wasn’t a big fan of the re-signing when it happened at it was for his age 30-35 seasons and pretty much all players decline in that age range, with some declining very hard. So I wouldn’t be opposed to eventually trading him to try to avoid a potential deep decline. But that trade doesn’t have to happen now and with the rising cap, it’s more doable now and going forward. And will be even more doable if he rebounds a bit.
There’s absolutely no way I’d trade Buch away this summer u unless there’s someone else they can bring in to be a top-6 RW. We already traded Kyrou so we really can’t afford to trade away Buch for the sake of it.
STL fan in MN wrote: ↑18 Jul 2026 15:40 pm
He’s certainly not as overpaid as he was 2 months ago!
He’s still a little overpaid but he has 5 years left at $8M. If he was a UFA this summer I bet he could’ve gotten close to that - probably something around 5 x $7M.
But we’re also not remotely close to cap hell so it really doesn’t matter a ton today. He’s still a solid 2nd line winger. And he’s going to go back to his preferred RW and almost certainly with more talented linemates. So good chance we see a slight rebound from him.
That said, I wasn’t a big fan of the re-signing when it happened at it was for his age 30-35 seasons and pretty much all players decline in that age range, with some declining very hard. So I wouldn’t be opposed to eventually trading him to try to avoid a potential deep decline. But that trade doesn’t have to happen now and with the rising cap, it’s more doable now and going forward. And will be even more doable if he rebounds a bit.
There’s absolutely no way I’d trade Buch away this summer u unless there’s someone else they can bring in to be a top-6 RW. We already traded Kyrou so we really can’t afford to trade away Buch for the sake of it.
STL fan in MN wrote: ↑18 Jul 2026 15:40 pm
He’s certainly not as overpaid as he was 2 months ago!
He’s still a little overpaid but he has 5 years left at $8M. If he was a UFA this summer I bet he could’ve gotten close to that - probably something around 5 x $7M.
But we’re also not remotely close to cap hell so it really doesn’t matter a ton today. He’s still a solid 2nd line winger. And he’s going to go back to his preferred RW and almost certainly with more talented linemates. So good chance we see a slight rebound from him.
That said, I wasn’t a big fan of the re-signing when it happened at it was for his age 30-35 seasons and pretty much all players decline in that age range, with some declining very hard. So I wouldn’t be opposed to eventually trading him to try to avoid a potential deep decline. But that trade doesn’t have to happen now and with the rising cap, it’s more doable now and going forward. And will be even more doable if he rebounds a bit.
There’s absolutely no way I’d trade Buch away this summer u unless there’s someone else they can bring in to be a top-6 RW. We already traded Kyrou so we really can’t afford to trade away Buch for the sake of it.
