The Minnesota Wild are expected to sign star defense prospect Zeev Buium to his entry-level contract in the coming days. Wild general manager Bill Guerin appeared on Minnesota’s KFAN-1003 to share the news per Joe Smith of The Athletic. Buium later told Smith that he would join the Wild at their Monday practice, just ahead of their season finale on Tuesday. Minnesota has all but clinched the top Western Conference Wild Card – though they could theoretically lose their top spot should they lose their final three games, the Calgary Flames win each of their final four games, and the St. Louis Blues win at least one of their final two games.
The Wild will lean on Buium to help them through their final push towards the postseason. When discussing his ice time, Guerin remarked, “He’ll play. These kids are different, man. They’re ready for this stuff.”
It’s hard to question Guerin’s claim. Buium was far away the star of the Denver lineup over his two seasons in school. He supported the school to a national championship in his freshman year, while leading all collegiate defensemen in scoring with 50 points in 42 games. He also recorded a plus-33 – tied with his brother Shai Buium for fourth-highest in the league. With brother Shai and star partner Sean Behrens both signing in the AHL, Zeev was able to graduate to Denver’s #1-defender role this year. He repeated as the NCAA’s top-scoring defenseman with 48 points in 41 games and helped push Denver to the Frozen Four before their semi-final elimination at the hands of a double-overtime loss to Western Michigan University.
Buium was worth the price of admission with the Pioneers. He was constantly involved in play through all three zones, and moved quickly up the ice with long strides. Buium earned control of the puck quickly and stayed on it with strong stickhandling. He drove Denver’s movement up the ice and had a special knack for creating time and space from off the offensive blue-line. Buium beat opponents cleanly over-and-over this season. With this news, he’ll get to test his fancy puck-handling and nose for the net against the top flight. His 1.18 points-per-game in college hockey are the third-highest from a defender through multiple seasons since 2000 – behind Lane Hutson (1.26) and Adam Fox (1.20).