Prospect Info: 12th Overall 2024 Draft, LHD Zeev Buium

[Hockeyville USA]

Hobey Baker candidate for 2024-25? Certainly think it's possible, with the Boston College guys splitting votes, Blake & McGroarty both gone.

 

[north21]

He really should have made the top 10 last season. With similar or better production he easily makes it this year.

 

[Waiver Draft]

First Light - An Exclusive Q&A with Zeev Buium | Minnesota Wild

“I know that it's a special opportunity, a special moment in my life. I just want to have fun with it.”

www.nhl.com

 

[P10p]

3a in his first game

 

[f7ben]

3a in his first game

No goals????! BUST

 

[P10p]

4th assist part way through game 2 against UAA

 

[Al Lagoon]

Deeyum, forgot all about this kid. Boy oh boy do the Wild have some top-line prospects and the additional prospect of immense cap relief coming up.

Foolish to be optimistic?

 

[Blue Ox]

I temper my optimism with the fact that it's Minnesota sports. That always takes it down a notch.

But I always have a little hope every year.

 

[BagHead]

Deeyum, forgot all about this kid. Boy oh boy do the Wild have some top-line prospects and the additional prospect of immense cap relief coming up.

Foolish to be optimistic?

I suppose that question depends on where you derive your joy from. If it's from watching an interesting team that can win a lot of games, I think you should be optimistic. If, instead, you're a "Cup or Bust" type of person, probably you should be ever-pessimistic because the odds will be ever against it.

 

[north21]

I suppose that question depends on where you derive your joy from. If it's from watching an interesting team that can win a lot of games, I think you should be optimistic. If, instead, you're a "Cup or Bust" type of person, probably you should be ever-pessimistic because the odds will be ever against it.

Well said.

 

[f7ben]

I suppose that question depends on where you derive your joy from. If it's from watching an interesting team that can win a lot of games, I think you should be optimistic. If, instead, you're a "Cup or Bust" type of person, probably you should be ever-pessimistic because the odds will be ever against it.

Well actually if you’re a cup or bust person and hoping for just one win in your lifetime of sports fandom the odds would be in your favor. Of course this is MN so the odds when considering the curse are decidedly against. For other markets though it’s totally reasonable to expect a win

 

[Digitalbooya]

Well actually if you’re a cup or bust person and hoping for just one win in your lifetime of sports fandom the odds would be in your favor. Of course this is MN so the odds when considering the curse are decidedly against. For other markets though it’s totally reasonable to expect a win

Move the team to Hudson, WI. Easy Cup win.

 

[north21]

when considering the curse are decidedly against.

Why not just pretend that the pretend curses don't exist.

 

[57special]

Move the team to Hudson, WI. Easy Cup win.

Wisconsin Wild? We could change the logo to a big Braut dripping Sauerkraut, in front of a stein of beer.

Joking, of course, but 90% of fans would love the logo change. Name change, not so much. I mean, I still don't get the Wild logo after all these years. It's stupid.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

You can't have a curse, unless it's the curse "of something".

Even Boston and Chicago fans thought up silly little stories for theirs.

 

[AKL]

I still don't get the Wild logo after all these years

The logo is the only reason I don't hate the branding

 

[AKL]

You can't have a curse, unless it's the curse "of something".

Even Boston and Chicago fans thought up silly little stories for theirs.

The curse of low expectations?

• Minnesota fans have it ingrained in their minds that their teams will never win championships because they have a long and storied history of not winning championships (save a couple World Series from before a third of the people on this site were born)
• Minnesota sports owners don't have any pressure to win championships because their fans don't expect them to but still show up
• Minnesota doesn't attract top talent because there's no pressure to win championships
• Minnesota doesn't win championships because they don't attract and retain top talent

Or maybe, in the case of the Wild, it's the curse of the comfortable fat cat owner who cares more about profit than championships? It's his money, his prerogative of course. But Leipold doesn't have any pressure to do anything different than what he's done, because he's still making a profit whether the team picks 7th overall or whether the team loses in the first round. Fans still show up to games to give him money. So we're stuck in a cycle of mediocrity where we're never bad enough to collect the types of pieces championship teams have, which means we're never good enough to be contenders for a championship.

Disclaimers:
1) Not interested in getting into a discussion about how strategic planning doesn't always lead to a championship, I know it doesn't always
2) Not interested in hearing about how we have Kaprizov, so we're doing fine without strategic planning, most Cup winners have multiple players above, at, or just below Kaprizov's level, we have one
3) Not interested in hearing about how Leipold always spends to the cap so that means he's a good owner who cares about winning. He does care about winning, he just doesn't care about winning more than profit.

Just a couple of theoretical curses we can run with

 

[Sweetnut]

I think it's the immigrants fault. Those stupid Swedes leaving home in the 1800's , just to go to a place with the same long, cold winters like they had at home.
Chicken Swedes can't play hockey.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

I agree with most of what @AKL wrote except I really don't think Leipold is too worried about turning a profit.

It's just what kind of marginal gains can you expect from hiring five additional scouts, five analytics guys, and so on? Do they need three sleep psychologists, a love guru and some more pr staff? Or should the GM not drink and draft guys with little ability to provide NHL offense?

I don't think franchises get complacent. Rather it's the reality of competing in a league that has a salary cap, a lottery system, and markets with structural disadvantages. And I do think Minnesota suffers from that: it's high-tax, the weather is bad, the traffic is bad, the nightlife is dubious, the divisional travel is tough. It appeals to Minnesota-born guys, which is less valuable than it once was. It's got better schools than St. Louis and it's a little nicer than Winnipeg.

 

[AKL]

but I really don't think Leipold is too worried about turning a profit.

I think it's his top priority. That's why he hires GM's who sell him on making the playoffs every year without necessarily ever being a real Cup contender. It's not lost on me that Fletcher and Guerin both had largely similar plans to re-tool on the fly why trying to maintain a playoff caliber team.

I mean all owners want to win, and want to make money, to varying degrees. Some have a higher tolerance for losing money in the short term if they think it means a better chance of winning (and ultimately making more money) in the long term.

Chicago, for example, has an ownership group that doesn't mind losing money for a few years if it means winning 3 Cups. I think Leipold is more conservative when it comes to sacrificing money for a better chance at winning.