Zeev Buium Brings A New-Age NHL Skillset

Last year's draft was stressful for the Minnesota Wild. Rumors circulated during the week leading up to the big day that Minnesota may be open to trading away their pick for a more NHL-ready player. Instead, they left with a bonafide stud to bolster their blue line's future outlook.

Selected at 12^th overall, Zeev Buium has "kool-aid manned" his way into the Hockey Wilderness’ top prospect rankings, debuting at No. 3 on our list.

The Wild were fortunate that Buium slipped further down the draft board than most had anticipated. For a while, they were deep in talent with defensive prospects; none of them had separated from the pack to showcase true top-pairing potential.

However, Buium is brimming with such promise.

He has the offensive upside from the blue line the Wild haven’t had since they drafted Brent Burns in the first round of the infamous 2003 draft. However, Burns was more of a raw talent, and the Wild were unsure if he would end up at forward or defense. Still, he had a Hall-of-Fame career after the Wild traded him to the San Jose Sharks, who permanently moved him to defense.

Matt Dumba was Minnesota's next offensive prospect, who many hoped would develop into a game-changing defenseman. He showed flashes, but the Wild also drafted him at a time (7^th overall, 2012) when league consensus was that a booming shot from the point was the most impact a defenseman could have on the offensive side of the ice.

A significant shoulder injury and the ushering in of a new era of dynamic defensemen thwarted Dumba’s ability to be the best offensive defenseman in Wild history.

Perhaps no position over the past decade in hockey has seen a larger shift in what it means to be the absolute best amongst your peers in the league than defenseman. That shift is the reason for such optimism surrounding Buium.

Ten years ago, the top vote-getters for the James Norris Memorial Trophy were large, physically intimidating defensemen such as Zdeno Chara, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, and Alex Pietrangelo. The only exception to that rule was Duncan Keith, the winner in 2014. However, even at 6’1”, 196 lbs., he was not a diminutive blue liner. All were well-rounded defensemen with offensive touch, but most would agree their skill sets prioritized defense-first.

Fast-forward ten years, and this year’s Norris voting paints an entirely different picture. Quinn Hughes, Roman Josi, Cale Makar, Adam Fox, and Evan Bouchard were the top five vote-getters. Three of the five are below six feet tall, and only Josi weighs more than 195 lbs.

The common theme? All five were game-changers at producing offense from the point. Some could argue most of those finalists were average at best when hemmed in their defensive zone, but that doesn’t matter anymore. If you can provide forward-level production from the blue line and not be a complete black hole defensively, you are valued as one of the best defensemen in today’s game.

When Duncan Keith won the Norris Trophy in 2014, he had 61 points. This year’s Norris Trophy winner, Hughes, had more assists (75) than Keith had points and finished with 92 points. Yeah…. I think the game has changed a bit.

Buium joins the Wild, who hope to contend for a Stanley Cup soon. Buium brings offensive upside to their defensive group that no one currently in the organization or prospect pool possesses. As a true freshman, Buium helped lead the Denver University Pioneers to another NCAA National Title. His 50 points in 42 games played put him on the map, leading to his steady rise up draft boards throughout the season.

While people talked about Macklin Celebrini at length all season as the consensus No. 1 overall pick, Buium captured gold at the World Junior Championships in January for Team USA, while Celebrini and Team Canada went home empty-handed.

In March, Buium again led a far less talented Pioneers squad to a national title, defeating Celebrini’s stacked Boston University Terriers. However, it’s not just the offense for Buium. An underrated part of this game, and why he has Wild fans excited for his eventual arrival, has been his ability to shut down opposing team starts.

Buium's Frozen Four victory over Boston University was so impressive that Celebrini, the eventual Hobey Baker Award winner, gushed about his play.

“I thought he was the best player on the ice,” said Celebrini. "He kind of controlled the pace of play every time he was out there, and not a lot happened when he was on the ice."

The best news is Wild fans won’t have to wait long for the two-way phenom to arrive. Buium could make his way to St. Paul before the season end, bringing the crowd to their feet in anticipation as he circles back for his first puck retrieval in a way no young defenseman in the organization's history has been able to do.

There’s little doubt Zeev Buium has earned his spot in the top three of our rankings.