Photo credit: d
Zeev Buium and Adam Foote are already staring at Vancouver’s next big decision after a trade that changed the whole blue line.
The trade itself was the shock. The follow-up is where things get expensive.
When the Canucks moved Quinn Hughes to Minnesota in December, they were not just bringing in a prospect. They were handing Buium a real piece of their future on the back end.
That is why this contract chatter is getting so much traction now. Buium is not some distant project. He is already in the lineup, already playing real minutes, and already tied to the biggest roster bet this front office has made.
The update making the rounds is simple enough: Vancouver could look at an 8-year extension, and the number being floated is around $72 million.
That would come out to a $9 million cap hit, which is where this gets serious fast. You do not hand that kind of deal to a 20-year-old unless you think he can drive your blue line for years.
The Canucks are buying the next era, not just a player
Buium has given them reasons to think that way. He has 22 points in 63 games this season, including 8 points in 32 games since the trade.
Those are not flashy totals on their own. The draw is the role, the skating, and the way he already handles the puck under pressure.
He has averaged close to 20 minutes a night in Vancouver, which tells you plenty about how the coaching staff views him. Teams do not hand that kind of workload to a young defenseman by accident.
Patrik Allvin also has to weigh the timing. This is the last offseason before the new CBA trims max extension length from 8 years to 7 for a player staying with his own club.
So if Vancouver loves the player and wants cost certainty, the window is right there. Wait too long, and the structure changes before the conversation really gets rolling.
There is risk in paying on projection. Buium has only 63 NHL games on his resume, and that is a thin sample for a defenseman who just got dropped into a post-trade mess.
But that is also the whole point. The Canucks did not bring in Zeev Buium to play it safe. They brought him in to soften the blow of losing Hughes and to help define what comes next.
If Vancouver believes that player is already in the room, then the $72 million talk is not fan noise anymore. It is the next test of whether this front office is ready to bet big on its new blue-line pillar.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily
POLL
03 MINUTES AGO|1 ANSWERS
Zeev Buium’s rise puts the Canucks on the clock for a new contract
Should the Canucks lock Zeev Buium into an 8-year deal this summer ?