LAS VEGAS – Here’s how much the Minnesota Wild loved University of Denver freshman defenseman Zeev Buium, who fell into their lap in the first round of Friday night’s Draft.
For the past few weeks, ever since it became known that University of Michigan standout Rutger McGroarty did not want to sign with the Winnipeg Jets, who selected him 14th overall two years ago, the Wild have dangled the 13th pick in their division rival’s face as potential trade bait to snare him.
But that trade would have to depend on the names on the board for each team when it reached 13.
As the first round fell outside the top 10, activity increased on the Jets’ table, even though they did not possess a first-round pick. Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff began whispering in the ears of executives to the left and right of him as he flipped through his draft binder. His right hand took out his laptop and put a privacy filter on top. Cheveldayoff walked twice to the other side of the table, knelt, and joined three scouts.
He picked up his phone twice, once before number 11 and once before number 12, to call another table.
Both calls ended quickly.
There was probably only one player left available who could have prevented Minnesota from pulling the trigger on the Jets, and that was Buium, a dynamic 18-year-old defenseman in an organization that is starved of offensive-minded, puck-moving defensemen who can lead a power play.
In fact, earlier this week, Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said on KFAN that the Wild would take Buium if he was somehow there to help them.
Well, the Wild didn’t take the chance of another team passing them. Director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett made the decision to use the Wild’s 2025 third-round pick to move up one spot to No. 12 in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers so they could select Buium, the American-born prospect top rated by NHL Central Scouting.
“I think the Wild got an absolute steal at the 12,” Pioneers coach David Carle said. “I think five years from now you’ll see that shown even more in all the new drafts that everyone likes to do.”
The Athletic’s draft experts Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler agreed. Pronman gave the pick an A+ grade and Wheeler called it “one of the best picks of the night.”
When #mnwild He exchanged: “I had a feeling it was going to be me.” He calls this the “best feeling in the world.” image.twitter.com/QPCU8GPK2n
—Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) June 29, 2024
Buium, who plans to attend development camp in Minnesota next month, said being selected by the Wild was “the best feeling in the world.”
“Watching them rise, I had a feeling it could be me,” he said. “I couldn’t feel more honored that they made the decision to sign me.”
Pronman called Buium “one of the best draft-eligible defensemen I’ve seen” at the college level and a player with “game-changing potential” who “looks like a potential No. 1 star defenseman in the NHL who will put up big numbers.”
“At 13, we knew a lot of the draft would be dictated to us,” Brackett said. “You sit there, anxiously watching players we’re interested in, trying to anticipate whether it’s time to back off or hold firm. We were there with bated breath a little bit. But when he was there and there was an opportunity, even if it was just one spot, to secure the player we really coveted, we had to do it. It wasn’t a great decision.”
Buium recorded the first 50-point season by a Denver freshman in 40 years, leading the team with 39 assists and adding 11 goals as the second-youngest player in college hockey in 2023-24. His 50 points ranked second on the Pioneers and marked just the sixth time a defenseman reached the 50-point threshold in the program’s 75-year history and the third such instance by a first-year defenseman.
The Minnesota Wild trade for Zeev Buium. He is a complete defender with potential for top pairing.
Deceptive and elusive creator. Highly skilled in recoveries and escapes, creative from the point and has defensive closing ability with his quick defense and battle level. pic.twitter.com/Cq4eHMQrI0
— Mitchell Brown (@MitchLBrown) June 29, 2024
Buium said that Carle was the best coach he had ever had and that they had a great year together.
Under Carle’s guidance, Buium scored the game-winning goal in the championship game to bring a gold medal to the United States at the World Junior Championships.
At Xcel Energy Center, an arena where he has never lost, Buium won a pair of championships in the spring: first, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff, in which he scored a game-winning goal in overtime against St. Cloud State; and then the NCAA Frozen Four, in which he was the best player on the ice in both games, including against No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini and Boston University.
Zeev Buium won the 2023 U18 World Championship, the 2024 World Junior Championship, and the 2024 NCAA Championship 🇺🇸
So when Macklin Celebrini caught him and asked him a question, Buium ROCKED him. pic.twitter.com/Xc468RNJRs
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 13, 2024
“Winning two championships in that building is already a pretty good feeling,” said Buium, a San Diego native who spent two years playing in Faribault at Shattuck-St. Mary’s and once spent an entire summer on Lake Minnetonka.
In the NCAA Championship, it was Buium’s beautiful assist on now-Wild prospect Rieger Lorenz’s goal that extended the Pioneers’ lead to 2-0.
“He cares about winning as much as any player I’ve ever coached, and he’ll do whatever it takes to win,” said Carle, who will coach Buium again in Denver as a sophomore and at the 2025 World Junior Championship. “Look at what he did at the World Juniors. He didn’t get a lot of power-play time. But he led our team in plus-minus, he did what was asked of him, he helped our team win a gold medal, he scored the game-winning goal and he’s great throughout the tournament. And then he takes on a bigger role with us in Denver and helps us win a title.
“He’s a winner, and that helps him be a winner on the ice, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Buium also won an Under-18 World Championship in 2023, was a first-team All-American and made the Frozen Four All-Tournament Team. He was also recognized as NCHC Rookie of the Year, NCHC Offensive Defenceman of the Year, was a Tim Taylor Award finalist for National Rookie of the Year and a Hobey Baker Award nominee.
He tied for the team lead with his brother, Shai, and ranked fourth in the NCAA with a plus-33, the highest mark for a Pioneer since the statistic began tracking in 2005-06. He tied for second on DU in power-play scoring with 14 points and ranked third on the team with 41 blocked shots.
MINNESOTA TAKES ZEEV BUIUM TO 12TH OVERALL SPOT!
I can’t believe Buium was still there!
Buium has an incredible profile in the Hockey Prospecting model and in fact has the highest DY equivalency of any dman since Bobby Orr.
It’s very strange that they traded a pick, but Minnesota became huge… pic.twitter.com/6QSyznvYa9
— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) June 29, 2024
“A lot of people with his skills would come in and say, ‘Yeah, I feel comfortable scoring points and doing that,’” Carle said. “But Zeev wanted to work on his defense. He wanted to work on his gaps and close plays and kill plays in the corner and be a better defender. And I think that’s his mindset. That’s what makes him so special. Zeev is a competitive kid. He’ll work on his deficiencies, but that will continue to accentuate his strengths.
“That’s what we saw this year. We saw a player who wanted to work on that aspect of the game, and that only made his offensive game even better because when you defend well, you don’t have to defend for very long, and that’s something that Zeev has really picked up on.”
Guerin had a busy day Friday when he met with defenseman Brock Faber’s agents to begin initial contract talks toward a potential lucrative extension this offseason. He indicated that he has also been involved in business negotiations. The Wild have shown interest in Columbus Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine if half of his $8.7 million cap hit is retained over the next two years.
The draft resumes Saturday morning (10:30 a.m. CT) with Rounds 2 through 7. The Wild currently own picks at 45, 110, 140, 142 and 174, but Guerin was clearly already happy after landing Buium on Friday.
Guerin doesn’t think Buium is far from turning professional. They’ll see how his second year in Denver goes, but Guerin said his staff believes Buium “will play for a long time in the NHL and have a big impact on our team. There are many things I like about him. His ability, puck-moving ability, hockey sense, character. He has a winning pedigree.”
Buium comes from a close-knit family whose parents, Sorin and Miriam, immigrated to Southern California from Israel before Zeev was born. His mother played professional basketball in Israel. They had 80 family and friends in the draft, including a few who came from Israel.
Interestingly, Carle said Buium unofficially committed to the UE when he was 14 or 15 by accompanying him on his older brother Shai’s official visit.
“I mean, Zeev could have been 5-1 at the time,” Carle said, smiling. “You could tell his eyes were big and he loved everything, he had a smile on his face, just like he does today. I mean, he loves coming to the rink. There’s always a smile on his face. And when we offered Shai to him, Shai was calm and said, ‘Give me a day or two, I want to think about it. ’
“Zeev looked at him and said, ‘What are you waiting for?’ For us to be able to go through the official recruiting process with Zeev was really special, and you couldn’t script a better year for them and for the brothers to win a championship together.”
Perfect image 🤌#mnwild x #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/S5LEM5bcoZ
—Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) June 29, 2024
Carle said family is everything to Buium.
“It teaches you a level of selflessness and that you’re part of something bigger than yourself,” Carle said.
Buium said: “It felt so special. To hug my mom. To hug my dad. They made so many sacrifices for my brothers and me. Hugging them was very special. So hugging my two brothers who have mentored me all this time feels even better. It’s a moment I can’t fully explain. It was incredible”.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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