The St. Louis Blues have signed winger Pavel Buchnevich to a six-year contract extension with an $8 million cap hit.

Buchnevich was set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2025 after the conclusion of his four-year contract with a $5.8 million cap hit that he signed with the Blues in 2021. He receives a raise of $2.2 million per year, with his new contract having the highest AAV of his career. With this new contract, the Blues lock him up until he’s 36 years old.

There are currently no details regarding any no-move/no-trade clauses or signing bonuses with this contract.

With his new deal, Buchnevich will be tied for the 37th-highest cap hit among forwards next season. He shares a cap hit with Jack Hughes, J.T. Miller, Logan Couture and Steven Stamkos.

The extension comes despite Buchnevich coming off of his worst season with the Blues, where he had 27 goals and 36 assists for 63 points in 80 games. While it’s still a solid season for the Cherepovets, Russia product, it’s his first season with the Blues where he scored at below a point-per-game pace.

Buchnevich was a third-round pick of the New York Rangers in the 2013 NHL Draft, and after making his NHL debut in the 2016-17 season, he spent the next five seasons with the Rangers before he was dealt to the Blues in the 2021 offseason. He has since spent three seasons with the Blues, and is now slated to spend another seven.

Buchnevich is one of a few big moves that the Blues made on Tuesday, as they also acquired Radek Faksa and Mathieu Joseph in trades. Along with that, they’ve offloaded Kevin Hayes contract to the Pittsburgh Penguins and acquired Alexandre Texier from the Columbus Blue Jackets. They have just over $9 million in projected salary cap space, with Nikita Alexandrov and Mikhail Abramov being their only remaining restricted free agents.