Zeev Buium isn't ducking the spotlight in Vancouver, and Monday night the Canucks made sure everyone heard it straight from the top.
General manager Ryan Johnson said the 20 year old defenseman wants a championship banner here, not just a bigger role.
That's a bold thing to say out loud for a team that just finished 25-49-8, dead last in the league at 32nd overall.
Buium put up 26 points in 76 games as a rookie, six goals and 20 assists, while carrying a minus-33 rating over the full season.
His last 10 games tell a rougher story. Three points, a minus-9 rating, on a roster that lost six of its final ten.
According to Johnson, speaking with reporter Steve Ewen, Buium made his intentions clear from day one and reiterated them again this week.
The GM says the American blueliner doesn't understand the chatter around him wanting out of Canada. He's staying, and he's saying it publicly.
Manny Malhotra inherits a teenage cornerstone and a full rebuild
New head coach Manny Malhotra takes over June 1st, walking into a locker room that finished with a goal differential of minus-100.
That's not a typo. Minus-100 is the kind of number you see in a junior hockey blowout, not an NHL standings page.
Buium is signed at a modest 966,667 dollars against the cap, the kind of entry-level number that buys patience while a young defenseman learns the league.
Vancouver went 4-6-0 over its final 10 games and closed the season on a one-game skid, a 1-6 loss at Edmonton.
Buium's last five games showed a flicker of life too. Two points and a minus-3 rating, better than the minus-33 attached to his season line.
Committing to a rebuild is easy in September. The real test comes when Buium is buried on a minus streak and the boos start rolling off the glass in November.
Johnson is banking on a 20 year old with a losing rating and a championship dream to be the guy who turns this franchise around. Vancouver fans have heard that promise before.
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Do you believe Zeev Buium can be the cornerstone of a Canucks turnaround?
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