Zeev Buium<\/a> signed his three-year entry-level contract on April 13, just three days after the University of Denver\u2019s Frozen Four elimination. One week later, on April 20, he made his NHL debut in Game 1 of Minnesota\u2019s first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, logging 13:27 of ice time in a 4-2 loss. He appeared in four playoff games and recorded one assist, giving him an early taste of the league\u2019s intensity. \u201cBeing able to play in those couple games at the end of the year and then going to World Championships [with the United States] really helped me,\u201d Buium said. \u201cYou learn a lot\u2026 how guys carry themselves and what you need to do.\u201dBefore signing with Minnesota, Buium had a remarkable college season. He put up 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists) in 41 games for Denver, earning NCHC Player of the Year and Best Offensive Defenseman honors, while finishing as a Hobey Baker finalist. He was also a unanimous NCHC First-Team All-Star selection. The California native isn\u2019t short on championship experience either. He helped Denver win the 2024 NCAA title and was part of the U.S. teams that claimed gold at both the 2025 World Juniors and the IIHF World Championship\u2014the latter breaking a 92-year drought for Team USA. \u201cThere\u2019ll always be enough room [for more trophies],\u201d Buium joked. \u201cThe group of guys we had was so special\u2026 everyone\u2019s so great and cares about each other.\u201d<\/p>\nZeev Buium\u2019s offseason grind and Bill Guerin\u2019s blueprint for a breakout rookie year<\/p>\n
Now, Buium is focused on adding strength and explosiveness to his 6-foot, 183-pound frame before camp. \u201cI think for me, it\u2019s putting on weight,\u201d he said. \u201cWorking on explosiveness, getting faster and stronger\u2026 get ready to play a full NHL season.\u201d Wild GM Bill Guerin believes he\u2019s on the right track. \u201cZeev is a young guy that we\u2019ve all seen what he\u2019s capable of,\u201d Guerin said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those young pieces of talent we\u2019re very excited to see make a push and have an impact on the team.\u201dAfter a year packed with milestones and championships, Buium\u2019s hunger to succeed at the NHL level has only grown. \u201cLosing in the Frozen Four put into perspective how hard it is,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes me more grateful\u2026 and realize how much more I want it.\u201dAlso Read: Winnipeg Jets sign Gabriel Vilardi to $45M deal\u2014blockbuster trade pays off after breakout NHL season<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by David Berding\/Getty Images When training camp opens in September, all eyes will be on Zeev Buium.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5118],"tags":[3201,4412,5,1230,161,38,5280,24064,4,15466,24063,1536,162,24065,1289],"class_list":{"0":"post-136162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-bill-guerin","9":"tag-frozen-four","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-hockey-defenseman","12":"tag-minnesota","13":"tag-minnesota-wild","14":"tag-minnesotawild","15":"tag-ncaa-champion","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-nhl-debut","18":"tag-nhl-rookie","19":"tag-university-of-denver","20":"tag-wild","21":"tag-world-juniors-gold","22":"tag-zeev-buium"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114905481550343611","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Photo by David Berding\/Getty Images When training camp opens in September, all eyes will be on Zeev Buium. The 19-year-old defenseman, drafted 12th overall by the Minnesota Wild in 2024, isn\u2019t looking for a slow introduction to the NHL. He\u2019s planning to step in and make an impact right away. \u201cI do think that there is an opportunity for me to step in and be a player on the team,\u201d Buium said recently. \u201cAnd for me, I don\u2019t just want to be a guy who\u2019s out there\u2014I want to help this team win.\u201d<\/p>\n