Welcome back to another week! I do these in sets of three going from monday to wednesday.
Why? Because I HAVE THE EDITORIAL CONTROL, SMART GUY. I AM THE GOD, I AM THE GOD-
Anywho, sometimes when a player ends up being really, really good in Junior/College/Europe; the health of the team around him is sometimes called into question. Sure he played 25 minutes a night in Linkoping, but was Linkoping any good? Who did the North Bay Battalion really play, exactly? What good is being the lynchpin of the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs power play?
You do not have to worry about that in this prospect, as he’s been racking up trophies like it’s a hobby over the past year. Let’s meet Zeev Buium.
Who is He?
Zeev Buium is an American-born Defenseman who shoots Left-Handed. He is 6-foot even, and weighs 183 pounds. He played with the University of Denver in the NCAA in the NCHC conference, and with Team USA in the World Juniors this year.
What’s He good at?
Decision-Making and Skating agility.
The phrase “calming” shows up a lot in draft profiles of Buium, and I think that his skating is a big part of why. He’s not exactly going to light the world up in terms of speed, but what he doesn’t quite have in high-end speed, he more than makes up for in pure, effortless mobility; able to carefully maneuver around the opposing player at an effortless, efficient rate rather than blast past them. He will create separation, but he’s doing it through tight turns and quick stick movement and smart use of leverage rather than just pure momentum and acceleration. Combining that with a level of play recognition that he has is just infuriating for a forechecking player with the puck; he may not be immediately on top of a player when he’s got his assignment, but once he is, he’s dug in like a tick; being really annoying to deal with until the puck carrier either tries a low danger chance or just throws it away. Watching enough of him gives you that feeling that things are, at the very least, well under control.
At the start of the year, many looked at Buium’s size and simply decided that he would probably end up a low first, but his absolutely absurd production at the college level turned some heads, and many scouts found that not only did he find a way to turn up the pressure on defense, he’s managed to find transition for his teams (in this case, Team USA and Denver) in a way that borders on magic in some of the more extreme cases. He will absolutely take body contact if it means a zone exit. He will happily squeeze between however many forecheckers you bring. If it means he gets a zone exit? He’s more than happy. In the offensive zone, he always finds a place on the ice to create a big shot to force a rebound, or to keep the goalie honest, using that play recognition and lateral skating ability to keep shooting and passing lanes open, and force the backcheck to come take him on 1-on-1, which he’s more than happy to go make a fool out of. Which he did. Multiple times. Denver absolutely loved him for that.
On a lesser but no less equally important note, the other thing he seems to be good at is Winning Championships; because Buium’s 23-24 gives the impression he might have the Midas Touch; being one of the most electric freshmen on the Pioneers’ roster, becoming a point-per-game player not seen among NCAA defenders in a good long time, helped Denver get all the way to the Frozen Four, and then won it all in the same year he helped Team USA hockey avoid being Themselves during this year’s World Juniors and win Gold…which is the second gold medal he’s won at a IIHF event, having gotten one the year before at the U18 championships.
What does He need to work on?
Getting some weight on.
Buium is pretty slim for a dude asked to do the kind of things he did for Denver this year. Granted, he made that work in the NCAA; which is a much more physical, much more structured game (at least in my personal opinion) than Canadian Junior, against bare-minimum 18 year olds.
That Buium, with his thin frame and average(ish) size, managed to turn that kind of pressure into a 50 point season as a freshman defender in a mere 42 games as well as being 2nd on the Pioneers’ roster in points-getting is an impressive feat and he should continue to do the things he’s doing to continue doing that. The point is, as he continues in his development, he’s going to go from occasional 21 year olds to near 30 year old veterans who can skate just as well as he can, and are way, way more willing to take a body in order to separate the puck from a defender trying to leave his own end. Sure, he’s well above his peers for skating edgework, but NHL players can do that kind of stuff just as well.
He’s gonna need some extra meat on his bones not just to protect himself, but allow him the extra strength to keep doing those fun little misdirections without getting turned into paste in the process. He absolutely should continue working on his skating as is because he knows how to make it work for him, and if he can make his unusual skating work at the NHL level, then maybe it’s no !
Y’know…maybe just spot him some protein shakes. Denver’s got NIL money, right?
My Verdict
The only way this would be a hard decision is if Zeev Buium and Sam Dickinson were still available at 8th overall.
You could keep going on their merits for ages if you really wanted. Dickinson is bigger, but Buium scores more. Dickinson is faster in a straight line, but Buium is probably just as agile if not more. Dickinson plays with a longer, potentially rougher schedule, but Buium plays against bigger, more defensively responsible squads and thus potentially won’t be as blindsided by jumps to the AHL or NHL.
Both have the tools of being insanely smart and great skaters in their own ways, and Buium’s work as a transition specialist seems uniquely suited to the strengths of previous Kraken teams, and if that translates to the NHL, a pass from him could be something real dangerous. I would be more than happy to see Buium in Deep Blue.
But…again…he’s a top 10 defender in this draft, so maybe don’t get super attached to him. Or if you do, have a couple of backups that you like just as much as him.
Man I wish this draft was more clear cut.
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