Who is to say this Blues team can't be competitive next year? Buchnevich is only 29 years old and his role reminds me a lot of Hossa's in Chicago (the forward veteran with outstanding 2-way presence to help Toews on the top line). In our case, Thomas needs Buchnevich to bring that strong defensive presence and generate quality chances offensively. To put things in perspective, Hossa signed a 12 year contract at 5.275 M AAV (9.29% of Chicago's cap at the time) when he was 30 years old. Buchnevich's extension is only 6 years and will start next season at 8.0 M AAV (8.69% of the projected cap of 92 M for 2025-26) when he is 30 years old. Agewise, Hossa is 9 years older than Toews while Buchnevich is only 4 years older than Thomas. I don't think Buchnevich looks out of place with the core group. In fact, as excited as we are about the upcoming prospects, it's important to remember that this team is still built around Thomas, Kyrou, Buch, and Parayko, and these younger players will make it very cost effective to build a deep roster with their ELCs, therefore making this team more competitive sooner rather than later.