April 14th, 2025, 06:37 ET
st. Paul, Minnesota – Zeev Buium was his first media interview on Monday as a member of the Minnesota Wild.
The rookie defensive man paused temporarily to reveal his face. While Bueum’s performance on the NHL’s ice has not yet been unfolded, the 2024 first-round draft pick, with a rare name and unconventional path to the sport, appears to allow him to do more than hold his own.
After winning the NCAA Championship as a freshman with Denver and returning to Frozen Four last weekend, Buium decided to finish his college career after two seasons to jump to Minnesota. He signed a three-year entry-level contract on Sunday and joined Wild on Monday for practice, meet-and-greet and other paperwork.
“It’s like your first school,” coach John Hines said. For the record, Buyum emailed his Denver professor and told him he would not be attending class this week.
“I don’t think there was any more developmental in college hockey,” said Buium, the country’s most scoring defensive man and one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Player of the Year Award. “I can obviously be bigger, stronger, faster, but if I take this next step and push myself further, it’s the right moment.”
Wild defenseman Jake Middleton was on the ice on Monday but missed the final four games due to injuries. Jared Spurgeon, another of their top four defensive men, was recently slammed and didn’t play in his final game. Even if the playoff spots are still unsafe and both are available in the crucial regular season game against Anaheim on Tuesday, Buium was able to find himself in the middle of the action.
“That’s my dream, I’m playing in the NHL and filming that rookie lap, so if I’m lucky enough to do that, I’d be very pumped and ready,” Buyum said. “But that’s still a dream, but it’s pretty amazing.”
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Proclaimed as Bouyum’s surname, Buyum grew up in San Diego, his parents moved from Israel in their mid-20s, stayed close to their family and began heating, ventilation and air conditioning businesses. After Buium and his two brothers discovered the passion and skills of hockey, his mother drove them to daily practice in the Los Angeles area (112 miles one-way trip) while his father worked.
Buium eventually attended Shattuck St. Mary’s, a well-known prep school in Faribaut, Minnesota. One of his brothers, Shay Buyum, is currently performing at AHL, a potential Detroit Red Wings.
If they win at Wild on Tuesday, they will be in the playoffs. Simply bringing the ducks into overtime and will need another point to finish before St. Louis and Calgary, sending them into the postseason as their first wildcard team. Wild has tiebreakers on hand who have more regulatory victories than both clubs.
But if the wild loses regulation, they will be on thin ice. Bruce hosts Utah at the same time. Flames hosted San Jose an hour later, with an extra game remaining in Los Angeles on Thursday. If both St. Louis and Calgary win, the wild will be ruled out unless they score at least one point against Anaheim.
After playing for juniors around the world and recently helping Denver reach the national semi-finals, Buium was in many major stages. That’s good for the situation he’s in.
“He’s a really well-speaked kid,” Buyum said. “He was the captain of the level he was in, so when you have that type of person and his personality and experience he has experienced, it certainly makes it a little easier.”
