ST. PAUL, Minn. — Zeev Buium never could have imagined he was leaving school to go to school, but the teenager got a 17-day crash course on how to be an NHL defenseman before he took off for the World Championship during a dizzying stretch that took him from Denver to Manchester, N.H., to St. Louis, to the Twin Cities, to Las Vegas, and now Denmark and Sweden in a whirlwind.
Besides racking up the air miles and waking up in numerous hotel rooms trying to figure out what city and country he’s in, Buium knows how valuable this experience will be heading into the biggest offseason of his young life.
Imagine being 19 years old with no NHL games under your belt and being swiftly thrust into action during the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Vegas Golden Knights.
When Kirill Kaprizov was 19, he pointed out, he was playing in the KHL and not even yet in Moscow, where he became a star.
“In Ufa,” Kaprizov said.
“When I was 19, I played in Norway,” Mats Zuccarello added.
Zeev Buium drives the puck up the ice toward Kirill Kaprizov in Game 2. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
Part of the excitement of next season is the prospect of potentially having a Wild team that rosters Buium, Liam Ohgren, Jesper Wallstedt, David Jiricek and Danila Yurov, who is close to signing his entry-level contract.
Now, like the others, Buium knows he must earn a roster spot out of camp. Just because he played four playoff games doesn’t mean he’s automatically on next year’s team.
But it gives him a head start. Now Buium knows more of what to expect, from the increased pace of play to the little time and space on the ice in the NHL compared to college, and especially how much stronger he must get. One thing that was striking about Buium when you saw him out of his gear in the locker room was just how much muscle he’ll need to pack on during these early years of his professional career.
“It definitely gave me a perspective of how my summer is going to look — and know how you take your training to the next level,” Buium said during his exit interview with Wild reporters. “Everything I’ve done to this point will be about doing it even harder. I’m excited. I want to have a big summer and come into camp and be ready to go.’’
After representing the United States at worlds, Buium — a two-time World Junior gold medalist — will take some much-needed time off to relax and recharge his mind and body. But the Southern California native plans to spend a large chunk of his summer working out with the Wild strength and skating coaches. It’s clear this was a point of emphasis during his exit meeting with coach John Hynes.
“The biggest thing is getting ready for an 82-game season,” Buium said. “That’s why I want to be up here. I’m trying to build my body up to make sure I’m ready for that. It’s conditioning and just strength. I’m still at the stage of my life where I can really develop physically and improve my strength all around. And, obviously, working on my skills on the ice.”
Captain Jared Spurgeon was blown away by Buium’s skills.
“He’s a special player,” Spurgeon said. “You could see it right from the start. Obviously, he’s been through a lot already in his career, with World Juniors and a national championship. … You could see in the first couple games that talent he has. I’m very excited to see what he does. He just brings that element that not everyone has. Obviously, coming into playoffs, it’s tough in general, especially to be thrown in there right away in one of the toughest places to play and a very deep team, but he did great, and I think for us heading into next year, that’ll be an awesome experience for him.”
Buium debuted in Game 1 and recorded his first career point in Game 3 by assisting one of Kaprizov’s two power-play goals. But he had several eye-openers throughout his four games, from seeing how quickly shooting and passing lanes can disappear in the NHL, like his Game 1 six-on-five turnover, to the costly double minor he took in the third period in Game 4.
In a game where the Wild could have turned a 2-1 series lead to 3-1, they gave up the tying goal in the third period during the second half of Buium’s double minor and ultimately lost in overtime. Buium blamed himself for the loss.
Hynes and assistant coach Jack Capuano, who changes the defensemen, didn’t use Buium in overtime of the same game and ultimately didn’t play him in Games 5 and 6.
Buium met with the coaches between games, understood their decision and used the time off as a benefit.
“We watched a little bit of video,” he said. “For the most part, they kind of let me go out there and play, and I really appreciate them for doing that. I was just trying to do whatever I could to help the team. I wasn’t playing a crazy amount of minutes or anything like that. I was just going out there and trying to help defensively and bringing pucks out. … It sucks coming out of the lineup and not being out there with the guys. But I understood, and at the end of the day, you’ve got to do what’s best for the team.”
Buium was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, a First Team All-American, the NCHC player of the year and the NCHC offensive defenseman of the year. But it’s not easy to come off the college rink, step into an NHL locker room and be thrown into an NHL lineup in the playoffs.
An arrival like he had takes a lot of confidence, not just with your game but also to walk into a room full of professionals and feel like you belong. Just imagine how nerve-wracking that would be, especially when you know your inclusion in the lineup means a veteran like Jon Merrill has to come out.
Buium is thankful for the taste and getting an up-close view of how “time and space on the power play will close up quicker and open up faster at the same time.”
Wild players did their best to make him feel welcome, and they were all impressed with what he brought and what he could bring in the future.
“He handled it so well,” said Brock Faber, who stepped off the college rink in 2023 and played all six playoff games against Dallas. “Doing what he did is so much harder than doing what I did. I got to play two regular-season games. I got to play on the penalty kill. I got to play about 20 or so minutes, 24 minutes or something, my first two games of my career in the regular season, when we’re already clinched.
“So it’s just easy to feel confidence when you can grow from that versus playing your first NHL game in Vegas against Vegas, who’s one of the hardest teams to play against in the league. They pride themselves on their big, physical speed, their skill, their skill up front. That’s hard to do what he did. I thought he handled it really, really, really well. Came in for the right reasons. He cared. He wanted to help make an impact. He wanted to help this team win, and he has such a bright future, and he’s going to be excited for next year. The older he gets, the stronger he gets, he’s going to get more confident. It’s scary how good he is at skating. How skilled he is, it’s fun to watch.”
Marcus Foligno couldn’t believe how mature Buium was for a 19-year-old.
“And that’s not to criticize him,” Foligno said. “I had a lot of good talks with him. It’s not easy going from the mecca of college in his career and college hockey, I think, to come here. I think he won U-18s and World Juniors and a college hockey (national title) all in like the same year or something like that. Then to come here and get healthy scratched and taken out of the lineup, it’s not easy. But he was so supportive of guys he just met, and I think that just goes to show you what type of person we drafted.
“I think his skills are outrageous. I think you’re going to see an unbelievable player next year, I really do. I think confidence is not a factor with this guy. He’s going to have lots of confidence. I think you can see it. There’s moments in the games in Vegas, and I think he was developing it, too, where you saw just some head shakes, some head fakes, all these kids are doing it now these days. It’s crazy, but you can tell he’s going to be a really good playmaker from the top, and he’s going to have a good spot on the power play and things like that that can help us. And again, on top of that, he just fit right in. He was supportive with the guys, laughing, joking around, and it’s good to have that kind of young attitude on our team. So, we’re looking forward to having him next year.”
Buium simply feels fortunate to get a jump on training camp. He spent quality time with his new teammates on four cross-country flights, at team dinners, at their end-of-season get-together. He got to be on the ice and soak in what it’s like to play with studs like Faber, Matt Boldy and Kaprizov, of whom he was “in awe,” and absorb wise words from Spurgeon, Foligno and Zuccarello. He even got pranked by Marc-Andre Fleury, a rite of passage for any Wild player.
What he learned can only help next season, because he’s gotten the tough part out of the way. Now he’ll just have to concentrate on what comes naturally — playing hockey.
“Every night is a battle. It doesn’t matter who you play. Everyone works hard. Everyone can skate. Everyone’s heavy. Everyone’s good at something,” Zuccarello said. “So I think it will help him realizing going into the summer that, ‘OK, this is a step up for what I am.’ And college is college. I’ve never played it, … but it’s the NHL. It’s the best of the best. I think he did a good job.
“So, for him, I’m sure he’s just like, ‘OK, it’s a good league, need to keep this up, work hard and be ready for camp.’ Hopefully, we’re going to get to enjoy him for many years.”
(Top photo of Zeev Buium: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
