LD Zeev Buium - University of Denver, NCAA (2024, 12th, MIN)

[57special]

Crazy this dude fell to 12.

Found it interesting the 3 RHD all went before the LHD. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. Shocked the sharks took dickinson over him but I guess they wanted some more size on the back end. I think Calgary went with Parekh over Buium because of the American/NCAA factor. Theyve seen Fox, Gaudreau and Tkachuk all leave recently and probably didnt want a chance for repeat.

I think in 5+ years hes going to be regarded as the best D and people will be scratching their heads how he went this late.

Not shocked that Dickinson went before him. He's bigger, faster, better defensively, and excelled at the combine. Buium is a great college player, but I do have some minor concerns about his game transferring to the pros.

I would've been very happy if the Wild got Dickinson or Silayev instead of Buium, but i suspect that PHI wouldn't have traded the pick if those two were available.

 

[mphmiles]

It's hard to think of a better fit for him than Minnesota. Faber is a legitimate 1D, but Buium will have an opportunity to walk into that room and give them a dynamic and creative playmaker on the power play in 2025.

 

[DANOZ28]

i would have had zero issues with dickinson or silayev however im amped we landed buium, he just wins wherever he goes! imo we got a winner.

 

[CaptainShark]

Fantastic value for the Wild.

I am happy with Mack and SD but would have been over the moon if Grier picked Buium.

 

[57special]

Fantastic value for the Wild.

I am happy with Mack and SD but would have been over the moon if Grier picked Buium.

Dickinson is the perfect pick for SJ. Great size, excellent skater, excellent defender. Buium is the guy you pick if you already have a solid D. Wild have Brodin, Middleton, Spurgeon, Faber, and a ton of decent LHD prospects.... solid, but Buium will add some spice

 

[johnnystormcgy]

Dickinson is the perfect pick for SJ. Great size, excellent skater, excellent defender. Buium is the guy you pick if you already have a solid D. Wild have Brodin, Middleton, Spurgeon, Faber, and a ton of decent LHD prospects.... solid, but Buium will add some spice

I don't buy this Dickinson is the perfect pick, the righty/lefty talk (outside of Ottawa), etc. At the very least, Calgary, New Jersey and San Jose passed on him.

For all intensive purposes he fell, he was ranked roughly between 4-7 across the board and went at 12.

The point I'm making is why, it's more than Calgary passing because he's American. It could just be we liked "so and so" better, but it's very curious.

 

[ameselare]

Why exactly are people so surprised that Philly didn't pick Buium?

He was Gauthier's teammate at the NTDP in 21-22 and the WJC this past year, and they have the same agent. The Flyers like to slow cook their prospects, especially the defensemen, and aren't shy about sending guys down to the AHL. Considering recent events with Gauthier and McGroarty, I don't see how it's shocking that they didn't select a guy who might be cold on them as an organization already, and might not be on board with their philosophy around developing players.

If your organization likes to slow cook prospects and doesn't do "guaranteed" NHL roster spots, it's honestly not a bad idea to avoid NCAA draft picks for a while.

 

[TaLoN]

top 5 player in the draft IMO.
Him and Faber will be disgusting together

For a decade!

 

[57special]

I think Buium and Faber will play on separate pairings to make the most of their skills. Wouldn't want to reduce Faber to a support role while Buium dominates the puck. He's too good for that. Wild could use a Brodinesque RHD prospect to pay with Buium, but I guess many teams could say the same thing.

I'm assuming that Buium goes back to college for one more year, works on his D and skating, matures, then goes pro. Hopefully the Wild picking him will light a fire under the plethora of LHD prospects they have in the system. They have to show something next year to get their foot in the door, because Middleton is getting re-signed, and Brodin still has a few good years in him.

 

[ameselare]

I think Buium and Faber will play on separate pairings to make the most of their skills. Wouldn't want to reduce Faber to a support role while Buium dominates the puck. He's too good for that. Wild could use a Brodinesque RHD prospect to pay with Buium, but I guess many teams could say the same thing.

I'm assuming that Buium goes back to college for one more year, works on his D and skating, matures, then goes pro. Hopefully the Wild picking him will light a fire under the plethora of LHD prospects they have in the system. They have to show something next year to get their foot in the door, because Middleton is getting re-signed, and Brodin still has a few good years in him.

I'm not as familiar with either of their games as you likely are. Do you think they could become a Toews-Makar, Hughes-Hronek, Harley-Heiskanen type pairing, or not so much? Sounds like no but it's an intriguing option.

 

[57special]

I'm not as familiar with either of their games as you likely are. Do you think they could become a Toews-Makar, Hughes-Hronek, Harley-Heiskanen type pairing, or not so much? Sounds like no but it's an intriguing option.

Remember, MN has a top 5 defensive Dman in the league in Brodin. He is a perfect match with Faber for a top pairing that can not only defend against the best lines in the league, but also have some teeth offensively, as Brodin's presence can allow Faber to take some risks up the ice.

Spurgeon is aging, and will only have a couple of years left by the time Buium gets in the NHL, but would be a very nice partner for Buium to break into the league with.

Long term, who knows? Depnds on who is in MN's system as a RHD besides Faber. I would rather not have Faber relegated to being a defensive support player for Buium, as Faber has shown some very nice offense in the NHL. I'd rather split them up.

All this is assuming that Buium ends up being a top pairing guy in the NHL, of course. You never know how prospects are going to develop.

 

[CanadienShark]

First post on his thread. I was leaning very slightly towards him at #11. He's a super intriguing prospect. The Wild have a knack for developing d-men. I look forward to seeing how he progresses.

 

[ThatGuy22]

NCAA factor is the only reason anyone should have been hesitant on this guy. Future Norris contender

Huge grain of salt here

But on the cesspool that is reddit, I've read that a few teams were a bit concerned about the Israeli factor and possible PR fallout. Not enough to bump him totally into a free fall, but enough to nudge him to the back of the six D.

No idea if true, absolutely stupid if it is. But it wouldn't shock me.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Dickinson is the perfect pick for SJ. Great size, excellent skater, excellent defender. Buium is the guy you pick if you already have a solid D. Wild have Brodin, Middleton, Spurgeon, Faber, and a ton of decent LHD prospects.... solid, but Buium will add some spice

While I too preferred Buium to Dickinson, I don’t mind Sam at all as a foundational plug-and-play top-3 defenseman for the next fifteen years.

I feel like Minnesota is an awesome landing spot for Buium for all the reasons you mentioned. Lots of support around him for him to do his thing.

 

[Digitalbooya]

First post on his thread. I was leaning very slightly towards him at #11. He's a super intriguing prospect. The Wild have a knack for developing d-men. I look forward to seeing how he progresses.

Not so much recently. At least not the dmen who went to Iowa.

 

[majormajor]

I think the rumors that Anaheim were thinking about Buium sounded very credible.

And then I think he might have gone to Ottawa at #7 or Calgary at #9 if not for the American factor - both clubs have had many headaches with American players recently.

 

[My3Sons]

Huge grain of salt here

But on the cesspool that is reddit, I've read that a few teams were a bit concerned about the Israeli factor and possible PR fallout. Not enough to bump him totally into a free fall, but enough to nudge him to the back of the six D.

No idea if true, absolutely stupid if it is. But it wouldn't shock me.

He was born in San Diego? There are enough Jewish players in the league at this point it doesn't seem like an issue. His parents are from Israel but that's something of a stretch.

 

[Peasy]

Huge grain of salt here

But on the cesspool that is reddit, I've read that a few teams were a bit concerned about the Israeli factor and possible PR fallout. Not enough to bump him totally into a free fall, but enough to nudge him to the back of the six D.

No idea if true, absolutely stupid if it is. But it wouldn't shock me.

Could see maybe 1 or 2 people might be dumb enough to think that, but I doubt many people considered it. Russians havent really felt an impact in draft spot due to the war imo. To drop Zeev just because of his ethnicity is just straight up dumb. Its not like hes made a bunch of extremist social media posts or something.

I think there are a few factors that caused him to fall and will make GMs really regret it. Main ones being handedness and size. All the RHD went first. Then the LHD followed and they went from biggest to smallest. NJ was never gunna take him having Luke and Nemec, SJS could have taken him but elected for the bigger, more all around defender in Dickinson.

Also 2 of the teams that picked D were Canadians that have both had a lot of recent issues with some American players (ability to retain them), so I could total see that factoring into their ranking process and went for the Canadian kids instead.

 

[My3Sons]

Could see maybe 1 or 2 people might be dumb enough to think that, but I doubt many people considered it. Russians havent really felt an impact in draft spot due to the war imo. To drop Zeev just because of his ethnicity is just straight up dumb. Its not like hes made a bunch of extremist social media posts or something.

I think there are a few factors that caused him to fall and will make GMs really regret it. Main ones being handedness and size. All the RHD went first. Then the LHD followed and they went from biggest to smallest. NJ was never gunna take him having Luke and Nemec, SJS could have taken him but elected for the bigger, more all around defender in Dickinson.

Also 2 of the teams that picked D were Canadians that have both had a lot of recent issues with some American players (ability to retain them), so I could total see that factoring into their ranking process and went for the Canadian kids instead.

The only substantive criticisms I've seen of his game are that his size is average, although in my view that's fine for his role, and his skating while good, is not elite for an average sized offensive defender and he may lack some separation speed to avoid forecheckers. His skill and smarts are obvious and with some development and patience I think he becomes a top NHL defender. Of course, my guess is that all three of Silayev, Dickinson, and Buium go on to have great careers and all their teams will be happy where they got those players.