SECAUCUS, N.J. — The St. Louis Blues acquired high-scoring forward Pavel Buchnevich from the New York Rangers for Sammy Blais and a 2022 second-round pick.
Buchnevich was drafted by the Rangers in 2013. He's had 79 goals and 116 assists in 301 games, all with the Rangers. He had 20 goals and 28 assists for 48 points in 54 games last season. The 26-year-old winger is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
Blais, 25, has 35 points in 119 regular-season NHL games and was part of St. Louis' 2019 Stanley Cup-winning team. He's signed for $1.5 million next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
In a blockbuster deal, the Arizona Coyotes dealt captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson and restricted free agent forward Conor Garland to the Vancouver Canucks for the No. 9 selection, two future picks and forwards Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle and Loui Eriksson.
Earlier Friday, the Philadelphia Flyers traded the 14th pick and a 2023 second-rounder to the Buffalo Sabres for big defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
After a handful of trades Thursday when the roster freeze was lifted, Philadelphia and Buffalo kicked off the movement Friday with the trade of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who said he “knew something might happen this offseason, this weekend.”
Not so much for Buchnevich, who was fourth in scoring for the Rangers and looked like a piece of their young core. But new president and general manager Chris Drury dealt the 26-year-old to St. Louis to add a second Stanley Cup champion in a week after trading for gritty forward Barclay Goodrow, who won back-to-back with Tampa Bay.
AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow and AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston contributed to this report.
