Why Did The Philadelphia Flyers Pass On Zeev Buium And What Are The Minnesota Wild Getting?

Becka senica going third was not the biggest surprise for me the biggest surprise for me was that zeve buam went 12th that he was the sixth of the top six defenseman taken and that the Philadelphia Flyers actually traded out of that spot and I I the thing is I’m I we’ll get to Philly in a second because I think that that’s a different topic it’s different than some of the other teams that drafted defenseman um you know I I I had Z buam as the third defenseman on my behind levanov and and salv and salv is a 6 fo S mobile defenseman there just aren’t very many guys like him that exist you know Z buam is is a player that I think has a lot of potential like we could look back on this draft and we could say that guy ended up being the best defenseman in the draft I mean it’s very possible given his track record and what he showed but you know there are a couple of things that happened and I have a piece on Flow hockey. TV where I kind of reverse engineered the first round to explain why I think Z buam fell the way that he did and one of the reasons and I want to put this to you as well one of the reasons is that there were not one but two smaller Market Canadian teams and when I say smaller Market I mean not Montreal not Toronto and not um Vancouver I think those three cities are still going to be fine and can get whoever they want the other teams I really do feel are going to shy away from American players and not just American college players americ American players um we have seen this you know Calgary uh Ottawa selected Carter yakam Chuck big right shot defenseman Calgary selected zann perek 96 points in the OHL this year right shot defenseman highly offensive defenseman both of those players to me are decisively behind Z buam in terms of the of of that that may not be true for their scouting staffs but what did you make of that and am I on the right track here with this this small some of these smaller Market teams just simply aren’t goingon to pick Canadians or Americans yeah I thought that piece was awesome by the way I read that thank you tweeted it out it’s um it was just a really cool way to unpack you know hey how this board fell because you know everyone’s board is so different despite a lot of consensus in the public markets right the public draft board a lot of them look the same um and feel the same but when you talk to you know the people we talk to around the draft you get a sense for you know hey if this guy’s available at first Seattle for example the draft’s going to get turned upside down because no one thinks they have this guy here so anyway um I was surprised that it took that long for the D to start going I think there was a lot of consensus early that there was a bunch of P you know there was a bunch of uh you know public boards that had a run on D kind of maybe at two to two to five were going to be all defenseman right you know you just never know um I love watching zeve buam he got to play his draft year which I think is an advantage in college so he put up you know 50 points as a true freshman coming out of the development team he missed last year’s draft by a couple months um you know fabulous player not no more ink needs to be spilled on what he brings to the table um you know you touched on it earlier small Market Canadian teams I can say with almost 100% certainty that that’s why Calgary made the selection they made in zanen perek not to Discount what he’s capable of at all um I heard someone on the draft coverage call him an offens sman um you know he just takes it he just takes it and goes he’s a really talented player but he’s truly one-dimensional but there was some cool pieces about him just he’s like hey I know that the way I play is different um and I’m gonna try and and make it work in the NHL uh Calgary’s been burned by Adam Fox by Matthew kachuck um you know and others where they just don’t Johnny G Noah Han left him kind of at the alar and so if I’m Craig Conroy sitting there kind of in a weird Calgary’s in a weird place they’ve got some older guys with unmovable deals and a pretty good young pool of players they just traded mopani who scored a ton for them um hey I’m gonna take the guy that I know that’s gonna come here and not GNA screw around um and not to say that know zeve was gonna do that or his Camp was signaling that before the draft but it’s a risk you have to consider and um um you know they still took a good player but I’m a big fan of of Z and um you know friend of the program Jud bracket you know puts his hand on the table to you know make a trade they traded a third round pi the price to move up one spot was a third round pick um you know to go and get a player that he thought was you know a game changer and you know the steal of the first round if it’s hard to call the 12th overall pick in the draft is steal but he they got a pretty good one and I’ll be interested to see if he goes back to college his brother signed um you know after they won the National Championship I don’t know what else he has left to accomplish Minesota could desperately use a player like him um you know they don’t have that qb1 you know back there running a power play and that team’s got to get going and he could be you know kind of instant offense right out of the gate I thought it was an awesome pick good for them yeah I thought it was a great pick too and I think there is going to be some significant debate on what the best path forward is for Z buam I think that you know there’s there’s no harm in going back but I also think that there is some motivation I think you know a coming out of the combine a lot of teams said hey you know like there’s a chance that he’s going to be ready to come out um and so I think there are going to be some nervous moments for the University of Denver because he is you know he’s a very critical player it’s also going to be some nervous moments for Team USA uh because they would have their number one defenseman and and and a critical piece of their their repeat bid they have a lot of returning players their their Camp is coming up in a couple of weeks and boam is on the list um and we’ll see if uh if ultimately he ends up being there you know this is the last year on Minnesota’s cap where they have to eat the huge charge for perisian sudor right and so it becomes I think it reduces by 700 by 7even million each next year so they’ve got a lot more flexibility so is it worth plugging him in now Bernie year who cares he fits you know he’s probably better plug and play I think than you’re going to get on the open market Market if they’re ready to turn him Pro right they’re going to be up it all year you know why not just get him ingratiated in there so they can start building around him going forward yeah and I think the other thing that’s that’s true of this whole situation with uh with with Minnesota is that they have some D prospects that just haven’t taken the step necessary to be NHL ready um and so you know Carson Lambos isn’t going to be coming in next year you know like that unless you barring some insane summer that he had you know so there’s there’s really you know that there is an opening There’s an opportunity um and I think all those are good points so we’ll see where that all ends up uh I did want to talk a little bit about Philadelphia because you’re Philadelphia based you’ve seen the uh you’ve seen the the the reaction to Philadelphia Flyers fans now there’s one important thing to bring up and I know this is going to be part of your conversation about this but so they have Jamie Dale they have Cam York and they have Emil Andrea who was the other one they brought up no disrespect to me to Andrea he’s not in the same Stratosphere as either of those other players I like the player I think he’s a good Prospect he’s not in the same category as those guys um but you know the other thing is is if you you know they get a third round pick out of the deal which I think is you know nice to get an extra asset if you’re not going to pick the player and I was like was that just because they didn’t want the Optics of of passing on a top tier defenseman to take a second tier Center and I again I love jet luchenko I wrote this in the piece I think he’s an outstanding Prospect he’s a good stylistic fit for Philadelphia but if we’re looking at the tears of the drafts right and and consensus versus the public and I think this will be part of your your conversation as well the tiar between I I think luchenko was in at least a tier below where I thought boam was relative to this draft class so you know what what are your thoughts from the Philadelphia move on on the boam situation there yeah um like you said I live here um have a bunch of friends on the team root for them and their success um so you want to see them do well you’re invested in what they’re doing there uh Danny does a great job and has done a great job they walked into a pretty tough situation they’re corporate owned so they don’t necessarily have an identity one guy walking in there saying we’re gonna get this right and I think you’ve seen in the last handful of Stanley Cup winning teams how important an awesome owner is Right an empowering owner owner to get out there and just go make happen right if you believe I will believe in you and these guys are owned by a cable company right and so it’s been a long time since you know Mr Snyder passed away and so they’ve come in there with a job to do and Keith Jones and him and and torts have done it you know pretty well thus far and you kind of said it there you know hey theyve said and Danny said it we have Cam York who were really high on who quietly had a really really good season after being called out torts you know early on I don’t know if you’re an NHL player and he kind of clapped back you know with his performance over the course of the Year Jamie Dale came in was great got hurt he had surgery he’ll be ready to go Emil Andrea like you said is a ways away they also got Oliver Bon last year in the end of the first round who scored almost 70 points for London and was critical in their ol Championship um you know team this season so they have that category checked right and I think that this you know rolls into the debate best player available versus team and Prospect pool construction and it was funny to watch and continue to watch Philly’s got a very passionate you know fan base here um 0.00% of them watch hockey and 100.0% of them think they know everything about it and so you know they watch them pass to take a center who no one’s ever heard of down here before they couldn’t pick them out of a lineup if it was in their living room and it was was meltdown meltdown not only did we not we traded away one spot to get this guy blah blah blah chaos fire Danny Brier it’s the same old stuff no one knows what they’re doing right um they actually traded that third round pick away already I forget what they did with it at the draft but they moved it um and he’s been very publicly facing saying look we think the 25 draft is better and deeper and they have six picks in the first two rounds um they have three first three firsts and three seconds right and now that look we just talked about how much we both like Z buam and how good of an NHL player we think he could be and so you know that presses the bet on yeah um their pick even more just because he’s always going to be held and compared against Z even though they play different positions and have a different approach yeah you know game jet lenko was almost not eligible for this draft by like three weeks I think he’s super young I think he’s like the birthday right and he brings an element to Philly that they lack that he he can really scoop and Philly is one of the slower teams in the NHL and you saw that kind of down the stretch they had almost a historic collapse to miss the playoffs on the last day after being almost a 95% you know lock to make it I think starting in uh early March or late February so in you know you’re adding a right shot Center who can really push the pace on a team that’s trying to get younger and faster and that’s Danny and Brent Flair’s call to do that right zeve Boya may be great in four or five years he may be great next year um you know but it it really sent the fan base here into a tizzy I mean it was a spiral and it’s it’s funny to watch and um you know they’re passionate and they care but this poor kid coming in here to development Camp has no chance just because of who he’s not right yeah and they read all the websites and they read all the models and everyone glows about Z because played the World Junior and blah blah blah I mean jet lenko could make Team Canada in the world junior next year and light it up and everyone’s building a statue for Danny outside the arena already right it’s possible it’s possible though yeah and and I say again like none of this is to slight jet luchenko he was 18th on my list um which and after the combine there was a ton of Buzz and I’m telling you right now a lot of teams had lenko higher than 18th on their board me from Combine were outstanding someone tweeted out his performance of all the office stuff which most people don’t get to kind of dig into and he was first or second in a bunch of notable categories and everything else that he was in he was like top six or seven so yeah lower body yeah yeah lower body he was outstanding like his his vertical jumps were towards the top like I think he was second uh EJ Emory who’s 6’4 and played football growing up you know so like it’s like it’s he’s he’s really like there’s there’s a lot of really impressive things with with luchenko and and I think there’s also a good point there is like you know the consensus best player available and I talked about this on last week’s podcast the consensus best player available is not how teams are building their list they are building teams they’re building teams and that is they’re they need to find the whoever is fits into their Dynamic and the thing that I’ll say though is is I like York a lot I like Jamie Dale a lot I even like Emil Andre a lot I do think that Z buam of that three of that quartet of players based on projection and this is all projection right this based on projection I think he’s going to be the best of that group and so you say yeah I think comes down to belief of hey is what makes this guy special amongst his draft class peers portable to the NHL for a guy who’s subscale subsize quote unquote um relative to what it takes to win I think there’s been a lot of analytics done and I heard about it on another podcast I haven’t had a chance to double click into it as much as I would like to a number one defenseman under 6 foot2 with a bunch of other mechanics behind it has like a minimal chance of leading a team through the playoffs to win a Stanley Cup yeah right and forget all the ins and outs of it and I’ll get butchered for that and I’ll find it but um it was you know hey and it came up in the context of Vancouver and Quinn Hughes who just won the noris trophy right but is that the kind of guy at his size and ability that’s going to get you through four rounds of playoffs as a number one and win the Stanley Cup you need that big mean kind of pound it guy and Z is not that and that’s okay but again you could have just passed on the most impactful player of the bunch um you know for a young Center who might be viewed as reach so yeah yep and I and I’ll say like you know the mat mitkov pick is going to be the defining pick of Danny Brier’s GM tenure but this one is going to be monitored for the rest of time so uh enjoy that uh it should be fun

Prospect analyst Chris Peters discusses Zeev Buium falling to the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft with guest Matt Moran on the latest episode of Talking Hockey Sense.

#TalkingHockeySense #NHL #NHLDraft #Hockey
#PhiladelphiaFlyers #MinnesotaWild

Make sure to like, comment, and subscribe to access all of the latest hockey videos!

Website: https://www.flohockey.tv/
Subscribe: http://bit.ly/2qfd7im

Get the FloSports iOS app: http://bit.ly/FloHockeyiOSApp_9

Follow FloHockey
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FloHockey.tv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FloHockey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flohockey/

19 comments

  3. Even the commentator on ESPN, don’t remember her name but she’s a Canadian even commented when Detroit was drafting that we know it won’t be an American because Yzerman doesn’t draft Americans. Unfortunately some Canadian teams and Canadian GM’s try not to draft Americans which is stupid. Who cares where they are from if your a good GM you get the best player for your organization

  4. Briere is ANOTHER Hextall era Joke! Luchanko is a bottom6 ceiling pick at 13th overall.
    Another 🤡💩 fake rebuild.
    More overrated overhyped mediocrity for The Flyers ot overpay.
    Briere and Jones are more Hextall era jokes.
    Drysdale return for Gauthier was a JOKE! Top5 prospect with top line potential for ANOTHER LTIR risk defensemen eho hasn't played in almost 2 years!? Unacceptable.
    The only people defending there 🤡 moves are people too close to Philadelphia that won't tell the truth. No Defenseman in this system has the potential Buium has!
    But Briere and The Flyers Old prehistoric brass would rather pick an average potential Canadian over an Elite potential American.
    Management is STILL the Problem! Briere has a flawed, tried, and FAILED MISERABLY Rebuilding process. This team has WAY too many nepotism hires.
    Why us Sam Morin a (Bust) guy who never made the NHL in OUR player development? Why is inexperienced Briere our GM?
    Why is average at best Lappy coaching in the AHL!
    Just old Flyers taking care of each other's bank accounts, gaslighting the fans, and putting ANOTHER BATCH of mediocre (AT BEST) Late 1st rounders in a jersey and hoping they will MAYBE make the playoffs and have a Cinderella Run. Absolute 🤡💩.
    Laughton still here after being offered a 1st last year. One of the worst player metrics in the NHL!!!
    Now they'll pay 70 point ceiling Konecny who has 1 goal in 22 playoff games and pretend he's going to be Marchand or Tkachuk all of a sudden. Meanwhile Couturier who's 31 going on 45 is the center to play with Michkov?😂
    Or is it Laughton or Poehling?
    Meanwhile let's sign Hathaway and Seeler into THEIR 30s and trade Joel Farabee. Who is scoring at a similar pace to Konecny at that age and isn't asking for ridiculous contracts.🤦🏻‍♂️🤡
    This team is already Max CAPPED.
    No future 1C.
    No future 1D.
    No 100 point forward. (Hopefully Michkov)
    No star goaltender.
    No top10 1st round picks.
    And ONE Elite potential RW worth building around.
    No playoffs.
    No top5 picks.
    No significant trades for high top10 1st round picks.
    No significant FAs.
    No Zegras.
    No McGroarty.
    No Pinto.
    No Center that is capable of producing at a decent level with Michkov. ProbablyALREADY going to cost him and Philadelphiaa Calder Cup.(Have to stick to average Canadian guys. No Americans allowed except Farabee and York.)
    How was an Anaheim top5 pick or The Center The Ducks HAVE ON THE TRADE BLOCK Zegras not the return for Gauthier?
    Briere got ROBBED!!!
    Not giving up the 12th, 32nd, and Avs 2025 LATE AF 1st rounder for a 4th Overall Legit Elite potential Center or #1 Defenseman is a JOKE!!! Did this organization REALLY NEED 3 more low ceiling prospects? All I see is another Frost (if your lucky although he BLASTED Luchanko scoring wise in Juniors)🤦🏻‍♂️🤡 Or more likely Rubstov or O'Brien. Just more overrated, overhyped, low ceiling prospects NOT WORTH BUILDING AROUND FOR SURE!!!
    Briere and Philadelphia are heading for a RUDE AWAKENING if they think Michkov scoring 60 points this season is going to save this 🤡💩 from blowing up in this management's lying gaslighting faces.
    As well it SHOULD!!!
    And EVERYONE Will PRAY for James Hagens or another ELITE Level prospect or player next year and The Flyers will figure they have enough Elite skill 🤡💩(LAUGHABLE)💩🤡 and continue another FAILED 🤡💩 failure of a Flyers rebuild!!!

    We call them The Philadelphia Irrelevance on the street here now.
    Haven't done ANYTHING relevant but draft Michkov in well over a decade.
    That's NOT EVEN CLOSE to good enough.
    Can't wait to (HOPEFULLY ONE DAY) see these 🤡s fired and see The Flyers with ELITE TALENTED PROSPECTS to build AN ACTUAL LEGIT Cup contender around.
    Not these whining overpaid, excuse ridden bums Comcast has brought in AGAIN!!!
    COMCAST HAS FLUSHED ONE OF THE GREATEST FRANCHISES IN NHL HISTORY DOWN THE TOILET.
    And for anyone that thinks differently…. Anyone who's only on their 1st, or 2nd rebuild, enjoy watching your low ceiling overrated prospects slowly disappear or disappoint.
    Because that's ehat happens when you overrate guys who are NOWHERE CLOSE to building blocks for a rebuild and tout them like they are.

  5. Briere is ANOTHER 🤡. 🤷‍♂️
    Hextall 2.0
    Comcast has gotta be the 🤡💩 behind the issue at this point. That's what happens when woke 🤡💩 organizations take over your NHL team.

  6. It shocked me. I think zeev will become the most well rounded guy in the drsft, but time will tell. As a flames fan i certainly like the Parekh pick, but I think we should have gone for Buium. I see your American players not going to small market Canadian teams point. I don't really buy into it. Mismangenent was to blame. Tkachuk wanted a long term deal and didnt get one, Treliving opted for a bridge. He short changed Gaudreau and accepted the "no negotiation during the season" thing. Treliving's failings led to the Hanifin wanting out. Fox is the only one i really think is relevant, and just because one young American player only wants to play for one team and swings his dick around to get what he wants doesn't mean the next guy will.

    Great conversation guys!!

  7. As a flyers fan I didnt want another defensemen but I wanted Helenius or Berkly. I didnt know enough about Jett but he looks like a high IQ guy that is a great skater.

  10. The Sharks would’ve selected Buium, but they were pushed around so often and out muscled on the puck last year…I think they had to choose Dickinson. Couldn’t have yet another undersized defenseman.

    I personally loved watching Buium this past year. He is so smooth with the puck…especially compared to someone like Lane Hutson (who also brings a ton of offense, but it’s a lot more chaotic). I think Buium is going to have a very long career, such a smart defenseman.

  14. Buium as a potential hedge against the possibility that Drysdale and Andrae don't necessarily pan out, doesn't sound like the dumbest thing a GM could do in this moment…. And I say that as one who doesn't dislike Luchenko. who I think will be a nice player. They used that 3rd rounder to move up to take Gill.
    All of this second guessing could have been avoided had Chuckles taken Jiricek instead of pretty boy Gauthier, and at this point would have Jiricek/Michkov/Perrault.

  15. Because I believe what YouTubers say than the actual 12 NHL teams that has a lot of money to employ hundreds of scouts and the money to get the job done.

  16. love what the Flyers did in drafting Luchanko…but it is a risk to take a less consensus player than Biuim. Next year's draft will be critical with 3 first round picks and their own pick may be a top pick, if the team doesn't exceed expectations as they did this past year.

  17. Also I'd add that the fallout from Gauthier led to this decision. If they had Gauthier and not Drysdale, I'd say they most likely would have been thrilled to have taken Biuim.

  19. "Which hand?" was ultimately a bigger question and more important consideration than "where from?" as far as this defensive draft went. I was shocked both Dickinson and Buium were available when my Sharks drafted and I really, really wanted Buium. But it didn't take long for me to understand why and see that it was the right choice.

Leave a Reply