Top player in the NHL on Friday
Pavel Buchnevich, St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues have been one of the best offensive teams in the league this season and there have been two big developments to help drive them there. The first is the return of a healthy Vladimir Tarasenko and his re-emergence as a top-line star. The other has been the offseason acquisition of Pavel Buchnevich who has proven to be one of the best trades made by any team. The Blues acquired Buchnevich from the Rangers for Sammy Blais and a second round pick and then signed him to a long-term contract extension. Thanks to his three-point effort (two goals and an assist) in the Blues’ 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Friday, he is now up to 13 goals and 20 assists (33 total points) in 32 games for the season. It has been a breakout year for a player that was probably very underappreciated — and probably under utilized — in New York before the trade. Friday’s game is already his 10th multi-point game of…