Zeev Buium's rookie year took him through two different organizations, and now he's got a full season under his belt heading into a real opportunity.
He opened his career with Minnesota, posting 3 goals and 14 points in his first 31 NHL games before getting traded to Vancouver as part of the Quinn Hughes blockbuster.
From there, he played the final 45 games of his rookie season with the Canucks, adding 3 more goals and 12 points to close out the year.
Combined across both stops, Buium finished with 6 goals and 26 points in 76 games, a genuinely promising first season for a 2024 first round pick navigating a midseason trade on top of the usual rookie adjustment.
Why the Hughes trade opened a real path for Buium
That trade ended up working in his favor in an unexpected way. Vancouver is rebuilding, and rebuilding teams hand out real minutes to young defensemen instead of easing them in slowly.
Buium now has a full NHL season on his resume, which changes everything about how a second season typically goes. The adjustment period is behind him, and the raw tools that made him a first round pick are still very much intact.
With Vancouver committed to playing its young talent significant minutes this season, Buium is set up to get exactly the kind of opportunity that turns a promising rookie campaign into a real breakout.
The San Diego native still has real defensive growth ahead of him, something that showed up at times during his whirlwind first year bouncing between two organizations.
But between his offensive upside, his increased role, and a full season of NHL experience now behind him, there's real reason to expect a genuine step forward from Buium in 2026-27.
Source: Three NHL defensemen set to have breakout campaigns in 2026-27
Will Zeev Buium have a genuine breakout season with the Canucks this year?
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