Pavel Buchenvich said that he wants to play this season without injuries and that staying healthy is his only focus. (Championat)

Last season Buchnevich played in 41 games for the Rangers but missed 5 games with back spasms early in the year and then 26 with another back issue during the season.

Buchnevich was also a healthy scratch 7 times during the season and played in 5 of the Rangers 12 playoff games.

Pavel Buchnevich spoke with Championat in Russia and said the following:

• He is spending more time with family in Russia this summer but will travel to New York soon to prepare for the season.
• Losing Derek Stepan is a "substantial loss" but the team has young players like JT Miller and Kevin Hayes that will get more experience and should be better next season.
• His focus is on playing this season without injuries.
• His back is healed and he spent time with the medical staff of his former team in the KHL.
• He isn't afraid of "Russian torturer" Lindy Ruff and that Ruff will be working with the defense.
• The AHL is "classic North American hockey" and features a lot of hitting and fighting.
• He was supported by his teammates during his goal drought.

In his rookie season with the Rangers, Pavel Buchnevich:

• Played in 41 games
• Missed 31 due to injury (5-back spasms, 26- back) and 1 game due to illness
• Was a healthy scratch 7 times
• Missed two games because he was with Hartford.

In the playoffs, Buchnevich played games 4,5,6 against the Senators and then games 1 and 2 against Ottawa.

In his first 10 games that Buchnevich played he had 4 goals and 4 assists, 18 shots on goal and averaged 15:06.

7:06PM: Tanner Glass returns to the Rangers lineup tonight for the first time since Game 3 of the Rangers first round series against Montreal.

Pavel Buchnevich, who played limited minutes on Saturday, is a scratch.

On Glass, Vigneault said this morning "well, when Tanner played there was no surprise to his game or what he brings to the lineup. That is something we have looked at every game so far, whether it be Montreal or Ottawa. Who helps us tonight and gives us the best chance to win. You guys know Tanner, if he plays he plays a certain way an in some games it's useful and in other games it's useful depending on many minutes you get."

Pavel Buchnevich played 12:23 in his NHL playoffs debut and had 3 shots on goal and 2 hits.

Buchnevich played 5:22 in the first period, 3:43 in the second period and 3:18 in the third period while seeing 1:58 on the PP.

When he was on the ice at 5 on 5, mostly with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, the Rangers had 12 shot attempts for, 10 against and 8 shots on goal for and 6 against. (Natural Stat Trick)

7:04PM: Buchnevich is in and Glass is out.

4:13PM: Alain Vigneault would not reveal his lineup for tonight when he spoke with the media so there is no definite word on if Pavel Buchnevich will make his NHL playoffs debut.

Buchnevich skated in warmups for Game 3 and at practice on Monday skated in a rotation with Tanner Glass on a line Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad as well as on one of the PP units.

Pavel Buchnevich played 10:19, was a minus one and had 3 shots on goal, 1 shot that missed the net, 1 hit and 1 giveaway against the Penguins.

He played 4:12 in the first, 3:44 in the second and 2:23 in the third with 8:33 of his time coming at even strength and 1:46 coming on the PP.

Buchnevich started the game with Rick Nash and Mika Zibanejad before being swapped onto the fourth line with Oscar Lindberg and Matt Puempel.

11:14PM: Asked about putting Glass and Kampfer in, Alain Vigneault said that it had somehwat to do with it being a back to back, "a little bit of that, a little bit of the opponent also. I just thought that making those two changes would help us out and for the most part our group as a whole played a strong game."

8:02PM: The Rangers have confirmed that Buchnevich and Clendening are scratched.

7:47PM: According to the line rushes in warmups, Tanner Glass will replace Pavel Buchnevich and Steven Kampfer will replace Adam Clendening in the Rangers lineup tonight. (Brooks)

Alain Vigneault said earlier in the day that the Rangers had some gametime decisions relating to bumps and bruises in the second part of a back to back.

Pavel Buchnevich returned to the Rangers lineup last night in place of Tanner Glass after being scratched on Friday in favor of Glass.

Buchnevich played 9:42, had an assist, 1 shot on goal and 2 shot attempts blocked.

He played 3:09 in the first period, 4:11 in the second period and 2:22 in the third period, all at even strength.

When he was on the ice the Rangers had 9 shot attempts for, 5 against, 4 shots on goal for and 5 against. (Natural Stat Trick)

6:58PM: Adam Clendening is in for Steven Kampfer and Buchnevich is in for Tanner Glass.

Vigneault said earlier tonight (NYR):

• "Our PK on the road has been good, at home it's miscues and misreads and it's an area that we are spending a lot of time on. It's an are that we know, speciality teams, need to be better and we are spending a lot of time on it."
• On being consistent, "you look at last night's game and we are ready to play. In the first 10 minutes we had a lot of looks and other than one scoring chance 5 on 5 we didn't give them anything in the first. Then we took a penalty and they had two opportunities off of that. The second we know wasn't good enough, we weren't skating or moving the puck but we played real well in the third. We know as a group that it's a 60 minute effort and that is what we will try to do tonight."
• On injury updates, "Kleiner skated and felt good. Dan did not skate, a scheduled off day for him, so we will see how they all are tomorrow."
• On Buchnevich, "he's a young player, like I have mentioned a lot of times. We are talking to him about the areas that he is doing well and want him to continue and there are other areas where he needs to improve on and we are doing that on a daily basis and I am confident he will have a good game tonight."

5:03PM: Antti Raanta will start for the Rangers tonight against Minnesota. (Russo)

Pavel Buchnevich will return to the Rangers lineup and Alain Vigneault said that there are some game time decisions on the lineup. (Russo)

3:26PM: Alain Vigneault said that Pavel Buchnevich is "going to play," but not tonight against Florida.

Vigneault said that there is a "lot of hockey left" and that while Buchnevich has been dealing with some inconsistencies, "he is going to play."

He continued that the Rangers have a "lot of faith in his skill level and the way that he can play" and that he has had some good games lately.

Larry Brooks wrote in the NY Post that if Buchnevich isn't in the lineup to work through his issues then the Rangers likely won't be able to count on him contributing in the playoffs.

11:22AM: The Rangers have confirmed that Tanner Glass will remain in the Rangers lineup tonight and that Pavel Buchnevich will be a healthy scratch. (Cyrgalis)

Glass playing and Buchnevich sitting was first brought up as a possibility yesterday.

On Glass, Oscar Lindberg said that "all teams respect him" and that they know what kind of player he is. (NY Times)

Lindberg added that Glass creates "more time for the skill players to do things out there." (NY Times)

At Rangers practice today, Alain Vigneault had Tanner Glass in his regular spot on the fourth line while Pavel Buchnevich was skating on a "fifth" line with recent scratches Brandon Pirri and Matt Puempel.

Vigneault said that he would watch the Panthers tonight before deciding for sure on his lineup for tomorrow's game.

Asked about Glass, Vigneault said that he brings "more physicality" and allows the Rangers to use different options or combinations in the lineup.

Ryan McDonagh scored twice to lead the New York Rangers to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday at Joe Louis Arena. >> Read more

First period:

• 19:33 NYR Ryan McDonagh (short handed); Assists: Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner

Second period:

• 5:35 DET Frans Nielsen (power play); Assists: Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader
• 16:50 NYR McDonagh; Assists: Marc Staal, Pavel Buchnevich
• 17:27 NYR Hayes; Assists: J.T. Miller, Grabner

Third period:

• 16:01 NYR Derek Stepan (power play); Assist: Chris Kreider

Pavel Buchnevich is no longer being recalled upon an emergency basis, according to Larry Brooks, and the Rangers have now used 3 of their 4 post-trade deadline call ups. (NY Post)

Tanner Glass and Steven Kampfer are the other two Rangers that have been called up.

Buchnevich was called up last week on an emergency basis last week when Michael Grabner couldn't play.

Since being called up, Buchnevich has played in four games and has two goals 6 shots on goal, a plus 1 rating and is averaging 14:22.

Against the Bruins last night, Pavel Buchnevich scored on his only shot attempt and put the Rangers up 1-0 in the third period.

Buchnevich played 15:13 and played 5:36 in the first, 4:17 in the second and 5:20 in the third.

He played 11:41 at even strength and 3:32 on the PP.

Alain Vigneault said that the Rangers were told that Buchnevich was Hartford's best player on Wednesday and that he came to Boston last night and played a "strong game."

1:51PM: Larry Brooks writes that the Rangers have called up Buchnevich under emergency conditions and that this does not count as one of their four post-trade deadline call ups. (NY Post)

10:54 AM: The Rangers have recalled Buchnevich from Hartford.

8:46 AM: In Hartford last night, Pavel Buchnevich had two goals, including the game winner, 1 assist and 5 shots on goal.

3/1/17 | 5:04PM: Alain Vigneault said on Wednesday:

• Does Buchnevich come back, Not at this time. He will play tonight in Hartford and he needs to play and play big minutes. We will see what happens as we move forward."
• Would you call him up, "he is right up there, it all depends on what I would need, is it a top-nine guy, a fourth line player. There would be some internal discussions on what we are doing with our lines and how we are moving forward."

2/28/17 | 6:17PM: Jeff Gorton said, "a couple of things. The first thing is that it's still a 23-man roster and in order to make the trade we had to make a roster move. The other thing is that Pavel needs to play. If he wasn't going to play tonight then I think we needed to get him to Hartford to play some games."

2:55PM: The Rangers have announced the move.

Pavel Buchnevich said that during his time in the KHL he was only a healthy scratch once and that he was a healthy scratch for the second time in his NHL career last night against the Leafs. (NHL.com/RU)

He said that he wants to play, score and help the Rangers and that Scott Arniel was the one who told him he would be scratched. (NHL.com/RU)

Steve Zipay noted yesterday that Buchnevich had a long chat with Arniel before practice.

Buchnevich has been speaking with Mika Zibanejad a lot and Zibanejad said that everyone has to remember that Buchnevich is still a rookie and playing in his first year overseas. (NHL.com/RU)

In his return to the lineup yesterday, Pavel Buchnevich played 10:46 and had 3 shots on goal and 1 hit.

Buchnevich played 4:28 in the first period, 3:13 in the second and 3:05 in the third with 9:13 of the time at even strength and 1:33 on the PP.

Alain Vigneault said on Monday that Buchnevich was "involved, assertive, competitive"against the Capitals and that it allowed him to make plays.

Vigneault added, "It was a better game for him. Again, such a young player and anyone who watches the game, he has tremendous amount of skill and sees the ice well. He just needs to get more experience and get stronger and he will continue to make those plays and be more effective in one on ones."

Pavel Buchnevich will be a healthy scratch Thursday night against the Islanders for the first time this season.

In the 14 games since Buchnevich returned, he has two goals, five assists, a minus-1 rating, 15 shots on goal and an average of 12:19 per game.

In the past six games, Buchnevich has one assist, a plus-1 rating, five shots on goal and an average of 9:16 per game.

2:25PM: Alain Vigneault announced today that Matt Puempel will return to the Rangers lineup against the Islanders tomorrow and take the place of Pavel Buchnevich. (NYR)

Vigneault said that Puempel is a young player and that he wants to get him back into the lineup. (NYR)

Puempel last played for the Rangers on 2/5 against Calgary and has been a healthy scratch the past four games.

He has six goals and 1 assist in 18 games with the Rangers.

Pavel Buchnevich told Larry Brooks that his fight with Kris Versteeg started after Buchnevich was slashed and the two agreed to drop the gloves. (NY Post)

In the initial moments of the fight Buchnevich stepped on a stick and slipped onto the ice, causing the refs to step in.

Buchnevich said that the encounter was "no big deal." (NY Post)

In his first season in North America, Pavel Buchnevich has 6 goals and 8 assists in 17 games.

Buchnevich is averaging 15:07 per game this season and has said that he only has positive things to say about working with Alain Vigneault and that the Rangers coach communicates well with young players. (NHL.RU)

He added that Vigneault gives his players a lot of freedom to make plays with the puck offensively whereas in Russia there is a lot of dump and chase. (NHL.RU)

Pavel Buchnevich has a four-game point streak and six points (2 goals and 4 assist) since returning to the Rangers lineup last Friday.

He has 6 shots on goal and is averaging 15:19 per game since returning.

Alain Vigneault said earlier in the week that Buchnevich wants to make plays with the puck, sees the ice well and is going through the process of becoming a pro in the NHL.

He said that he would like Buchnevich to shoot the puck a bit more and added that Buchnevich understands English pretty well, understands everything and is getting better at speaking it.

The New York Rangers' three-goal third-period rally fell short as they allowed three goals in the first period and four goals in the second en route to a 7-6 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. >> Read more

First period:

• 0:27 NYR Derek Stepan; Assists: Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello
• 12:34 DAL Patrick Eaves (power play); Assists: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin
• 12:46 DAL Patrick Sharp; Assist: Radek Faksa
• 17:54 DAL Jamie Benn; Assists: Cody Eakin, Eaves

Second period:

• 4:32 DAL Antoine Roussel; Assist: Lauri Korpikoski
• 9:56 NYR Mika Zibanejad; Assists: Rick Nash, Pavel Buchnevich
• 12:06 NYR Buchnevich; Assists: Kevin Klein, Adam Clendening
• 12:54 DAL Patrick Sharp; Assists: Devin Shore, Faksa
• 15:53 DAL Adam Cracknell; Assists: Korpikoski, Dan Hamhuis
• 17:40 DAL Eakin; Assists: Eaves, Benn

Third period:

• 3:11 NYR Kreider; Assists: Stepan, Zuccarello
• 5:31 NYR Stepan; Assists: Ryan McDonagh, Zuccarello
• 7:26 NYR Zibanejad; Assists: Nash, Buchnevich

After it was originally announced that Pavel Buchnevich would not play on Saturday in a back to back , he played 17:39 and had an assist.

Buchnevich had 2 shots on goal and played 5:39 in the first period, 5:23 in the second period and 6:37 in the third period, with 3:08 coming on the PP.

When Buchnevich was on the ice at 5 on 5, the Rangers had 9 shot attempts for, 18 against, 6 shots on goal for, 10 against and 1 goal for and 1 against. (Natural Stat Trick)

At 5 on 5, he played 13:18 with Kevin Hayes on Saturday and 13:06 with Rick Nash. (Natural Stat Trick)

In his return after missing 27 games, Pavel Buchnevich had an assist, 1 shot on goal, 2 shots that missed the net and 1 takeaway in 10:43.

Buchnevich played 2:06 in the first, 3:51 in the second and 4:46 in the third including a primary assist on his final shift.

He played 6:39 at even strength and 4:04 on the PP.

Alain Vigneault said after the game on Buchnevich, "first game in a while back in the NHL. He had a couple of more shifts in the third and get a couple of looks." (MSG)

3:22PM: Alain Vigneault said on Friday, "I would say that he was strong enough but his back had some issues from probably past years so there needed to be some strengthening of his core area that we figured originally would take us three weeks and it was double the time. After playing the three games that he did in the American league we called him up. We won't play him for a while in back to back situations. He will play tonight but not tomorrow. The docs want to be on a prudent side. I feel that with everything he has gone through and the daily work he is getting with our conditioning staff and medical staff, that should not be an issue anymore."

11:30AM: Pavel Buchnevich will return to the Rangers lineup tonight against Toronto but he will not play tomorrow in the second half of a back to back. (NYR)

Vigneault reportedly said that Buchnevich won't play back to backs for a while. (Cyrgalis)

9:29AM: Vigneault said of Buchnevich's time in Harfford, "like I mentioned, he played real well in the first game, very pleased with his first game back. Just okay in his second and they liked his third. They thought that he made some plays and got involved. Conditioning wise he seems to be where he is supposed to be. Hopefully that three game experience will prepare him to contribute here, before he got hurt the second time he was playing real well for us and that is the player we are looking for."

On the rehab and training Buchnevich has had, "that is what we are hoping on and that is why we took the time that we did to strengthen his core and his back where he had some issues. We are keeping our fingers crossed and with all the hard work that he put in, we are hoping and we are confident that it will pay off. He's looked real good, he's been telling everyone that he feels fine and he has played and practiced and looked good."

5:33PM: Alain Vigneault said today that both Rick Nash and Pavel Buchnevich are expected to play tomorrow when the Rangers return from their bye.

2PM: The Rangers have called up Buchnevich from Hartford.

9:17AM: Since being sent down to Hartford last week, Pavel Buchnevich has played in 3 of 4 games for the Wolf Pack.

Buchnevich had a primary assist last night, 4 shots on goal and was a plus two in the Wolf Pack's 3-1 win.

6:04PM: Vigneault said of Buchnevich today, "I talked quickly to Rammer, I haven't talked to Jeff but the feedback that he got was that he played a good game, felt no pain. They are keeping him out of the lineup tonight but he is going to play tomorrow. They didn't want him playing back to back but as far as what Rammer told me as far as feedback, everything went well."

8:25AM: In his first career AHL game, after being sent down yesterday, Pavel Buchnevich scored a PP goal in the second period on his only shot of the game.

Buchnevich skated on a line with Justin Fontaine and Adam Tambellini. (Crawford)

Ken Gernander said before the game last night that it would be hard to set expectations for Buchnevich since he was out so long. (WP)

4:02PM: Alain Vigneault said today (MSG):

• "Pavel we have assigned to Hartford, he will play tonight and we will take it day by day and game by game and see how he does and see how he feels and go from there."
• No set games for Buchnevich, "I think this is a day to day situation, he is playing tonight and we will go from there."

1:09PM: The Rangers have announced that Pavel Buchnevich has been sent to Hartford.

The Wolf Pack have games:

• Tonight against Lehigh Valley
• Tomorrow against Bridgeport
• Sunday in Providence
• Wednesday in Rochester
• Friday 1/13 in St. John
• Saturday 1/14 in St. John

Larry Brooks writes that it's possible that Pavel Buchnevich could be cleared to participate in a conditioning stint with the Wolf Pack when the Rangers start their bye week on Sunday. (NY Post)

Buchnevich will undergo an MRI this week and the results, according to Brooks, could dictate whether he goes to Hartford. (NY Post)

A conditioning stint would last 14 days and the Wolf Pack have games Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend, a game on Wednesday 1/11 at Rochester and two games next weekend in St. John's. (NY Post)

Players who are on IR, like Buchnevich and Mika Zibanejad, are permitted to "rehab and skate" at the Rangers training facility during the bye week. (NY Post)

1/2/17 | 9:21PM: Pavel Buchnevich said that he needs to do more conditioning wise before he is able to return. (NY Post)

He said that if he played now he would be play "three shifts and would be done," before adding that his conditioning level is not good enough. (NY Post)

He said that it's a hard process to go through and added "in a different country, so hard." (NY Post)

12/8/16 | 11:03PM: Buchnevich was diagnosed with a "protruding disc" at the start of his rehab. (NY Post)

12/7/16 | 4:46PM: Vigneault said on Wednesday, "he is continuing the process of the rehab. Right now they feel that he probably needs some more time improving his strength level until they really start gearing him up on the ice. They are working on off-ice stuff, they feel he needs more time so there is no definite timetable. The strength needs to improve before they can really push him on the ice."

12/6/16: On Tuesday, Alain Vigneault said of Buchnevich:

• On Buchnevich, "I haven't talked to anyone today because we didn't go to the practice facility, but I am pretty sure that he continued his rehab and if I haven't heard anything then things must be on the right track."
• Do you have a return date, "initially everybody was talking about 3-4, we are probably in that 2-3 week range right now."

5:56PM: Alain Vigneault said on Friday "my understanding is that he skated real well and felt fine and we will see how he responds and if he can practice with us tomorrow."

10:10AM: Pavel Buchnevich is expected to skate today for the first time since missing Sunday's game against Edmonton with back spasms.

This is the second time that Buchnevich has missed time this season with back spasms.

Alain Vigneault said that he was "fairly confident" that Buchnevich would skate this morning and also "fairly confident" that he would not play tonight against Columbus.

4:19PM: Alain Vigneault said that the Rangers hope to have an update on Kreider in the next couple of days. (Cyrgalis) 

When asked if it's a suspected concussion, Vigneault said that he has no updates and "we're just waiting." (Cyrgalis)

He said that Buchnevich is day to day with his back spasms. (Cyrgalis) 

The Rangers have announced that Pavel Buchnevich will not play tonight due to back spasms. (NYR)

Adam Clendening will take Buchnevich's spot in the lineup.

Buchnevich was on the ice during warmups. (Cyrgalis)

The Rangers struggled in the third period as they lost to the Canucks, 5-3, Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The New York Rangers scored four goals in the second period en route to a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. >> Read more

First period:

• 2:12 NYR Kevin Hayes; Assists: Kevin Klein, Brady Skjei
• 10:45 WIN Patrik Laine; Assists: Ben Chiarot, Mark Scheifele

Second period:

• 10:02 NYR Mats Zuccarello; Assist: Chris Kreider
• 12:02 WIN Scheifele; Assists: Paul Postma, Nikolaj Ehlers
• 13:01 NYR J.T. Miller; Assist: Nick Holden
• 16:24 NYR Jesper Fast; Assists: Klein, Brandon Pirri
• 17:05 NYR Pavel Buchnevich; Assists: Pirri, Adam Clendening

For the FIFTH straight game, the @NYRangers have netted as least five goals.



Pavel Buchnevich makes it happen with an absolute beauty. pic.twitter.com/SlsNtvNpKs

- #HockeyFightsCancer (@NHL) November 7, 2016

Brady Skjei told Al Trautwig in the second period, "he has a ton of skill and it's nice to see him show it like that." 

Pavel Buchnevich collected his first career NHL goal last night, on the power play, in the third period against the Bruins.

Buchnevich had 5 shots on goal, 1 shot that missed the net, 3 giveaways and 2 takeaways in 12:53.

In 5 games since returning to the lineup, Buchnevich has a goal, an assist, 10 shots on goal and averaging 15:11 per game.

Pavel Buchnevich was awarded the Broadway Hat after scoring his first career NHL goal tonight against the Bruins.

In his return to the lineup last night, Pavel Buchnevich had an assist, a shot on goal, a shot attempt blocked and played 17:40.Buchnevich played 4:58 in the first period, 5:03 in the second period and 7:39 in the third with 2:23 on the PP.When he was on the ice at 5 on 5 the Rangers had 13 shot attempts for and 9 against.

Pavel Buchnevich skating well, eyes possible Friday return to Rangers

Buch to Mika! https://t.co/w01oSCS7Nc

- New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 25, 2016