Article: Zeev Buium Has the Opportunity To Seize A Top-Four Role On Day 1

[Tony Abbott]

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[B1GKappa97]

Good point on Brodin being out to start the season. Doesn't help they traded Chisholm.

Does make me curious whether the plan is to just kick Bogosian over the LD, like they were allegedly toying with doing last year, or if one of the AHL finally gets a chance in the NHL. 

Middsy-Fabes

Buium-Spurgy

Bogo-Jiricek

isn't a terrible lineup to ice. A little inexperienced at some points, but that's balanced out by a veteran presence on the other side. 

[Will D. Ness]

I wouldn't mind seeing Lambos get a shot as well.

[Patrick]

Does Hynes have the courage to play him in the top 4 despite some bumps in the road? Doesn't seem likely.  

Hopefully Buium hits his stride early because the Wild are TERRIBLE at allowing players to develop.  

Remember they tried to start KK on the 4th line....its embarrassing.

[Scalptrash]

Quote

His offseason goal is to add 10 to 15 pounds (he's currently listed at 185)

This is imperative. Not only so he doesn't get pushed around or hurt, but also for the stamina of an 82 game season. Faber has kind of struggled with that, but it's not his fault they play him 25 minutes per game.

[MNCountryLife]

The first month may be a bit difficult with 4 rookies (Yurov, Ohgren, Buium and Jiricek). But if we give them the minutes to learn it should pay long term dividends.   Play them.    We don't make it in the playoffs without them getting better. 

[B1GKappa97]

24 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Does Hynes have the courage to play him in the top 4 despite some bumps in the road? Doesn't seem likely.  

Hopefully Buium hits his stride early because the Wild are TERRIBLE at allowing players to develop.  

Remember they tried to start KK on the 4th line....its embarrassing.

I think you are confusing the regular season and the playoffs. You can afford to let Buium make some mistakes in the regular season because there's 82 games and plenty of time for him to learn from his mistakes.

In the post-season, you only get 4 Ls and then that's it for the whole year. It shouldn't be surprising that the HC didn't want a guy with no prior NHL experience to be the reason the team lost some games and tried to shelter him. Especially after watching him get man-handled all over the ice by Hertl. 

Ironically a long-time NHL vet is the reason we didn't at least push 7 games, but I digress..

[mnfaninnc]

44 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

The first month may be a bit difficult with 4 rookies (Yurov, Ohgren, Buium and Jiricek). But if we give them the minutes to learn it should pay long term dividends.   Play them.    We don't make it in the playoffs without them getting better.

I would add The Wall and Lambos to that list, as I believe Lambos sees an opportunity right now and will be ready. It's kind of like sharks and blood in the water. Lambos has got to be thinking this is my shot.

[mnfaninnc]

28 minutes ago, B1GKappa97 said:

In the post-season, you only get 4 Ls and then that's it for the whole year. It shouldn't be surprising that the HC didn't want a guy with no prior NHL experience to be the reason the team lost some games and tried to shelter him. Especially after watching him get man-handled all over the ice by Hertl. 

In comparing the 2, Faber was able to get a couple of regular season games in before the playoffs. So, he was able to make mistakes, or at least get a little more comfortable than Buium could. 

Part of the reason for Buium going out, I think was the stress it put on his partner too. At least Bogosian and Merrill knew what each other was going to do. I suspect that Buium and Merrill see the game very differently.

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, Will D. Ness said:

I wouldn't mind seeing Lambos get a shot as well.

I would call Lambos the leader in the clubhouse to get the #6D spot. Even temporarily, he was pretty close last season. My guess is he's coming in even bigger this season.

[mnfaninnc]

I'm not saying these are pairs in order, but I'd like to see these partners:

Middleton-Faber

Buium-Spurgeon

Brodin-Jiricek 

As the season wears on, I think you can pull back the Faber-Middleton pair a bit, and pretty much roll with the pairings. If protecting a lead comes into play, Brodin shifts to Spurgeon's pair and you run with 2 sets. 

In this scenario, I'm not opposed to keeping 2 extra defenders, Lambos and Bogosian, and I may not be so much against an 11/7 lineup.

[Citizen Strife]

I think they drafted Buium to be Faber's partner for a decade.  Whether that happens in Game 1, Game 10, Game 50, or never is up to him.  Middleton is the best option to start, but if Buium is even half what he is cracked up to be, that would be great.

[NoJoSux]

1 hour ago, Patrick said:

Does Hynes have the courage to play him in the top 4 despite some bumps in the road? Doesn't seem likely.  

Hopefully Buium hits his stride early because the Wild are TERRIBLE at allowing players to develop.  

Remember they tried to start KK on the 4th line....its embarrassing.

Remember when they played suck-azz NoJo on the second line for two seasons while his minus-rating equalized his points. Big-brain stuff here boys. 

Why not trade Chisholm for a pick since he was a free acquisition. Who needs a promising young left defenseman. Brodin hasn't been the epitome of health and durability over the years. Lambos is a Brackett/Guerin guy but still has less NHL experience than Chisholm did by ~ 100 games. 

I don't know, sometimes you just gotta wonder. Counting chickens before hatch? 

[Patrick]

1 hour ago, B1GKappa97 said:

I think you are confusing the regular season and the playoffs. You can afford to let Buium make some mistakes in the regular season because there's 82 games and plenty of time for him to learn from his mistakes.

In the post-season, you only get 4 Ls and then that's it for the whole year. It shouldn't be surprising that the HC didn't want a guy with no prior NHL experience to be the reason the team lost some games and tried to shelter him. Especially after watching him get man-handled all over the ice by Hertl. 

Ironically a long-time NHL vet is the reason we didn't at least push 7 games, but I digress..

Who have the Wild allowed to develop in recent memory?

They have incredibly short leashes on the young players while giving underperforming veterans ample ice time.

Hopefully it changes this year but the track record so far hasn't been great.

[Burnt Toast]

44 minutes ago, Patrick said:

Who have the Wild allowed to develop in recent memory?

Faber Boldy Rossi. Chisholm was given ice time though he’s a bit older. The players I mentioned are still developing. What I’ve seen is there’s a baseline to stay with the NHL team that’s pretty strict. This is nothing new, just ask Ek, Zucker, Granlund etc.

[AKwildkraken]

I think Buium will look okay in the first ten games, then in games 11 through 30ish things will start slowing down for him as he gets used to the speed and pace of the NHL.  

Getting pulled in the playoffs wasn't a big deal if you ask me.  Buium's forte has been his offense, while he's been adequate on the defensive side.  Both Faber and Ek were billed as defensively sound players, if not elite, and their game aligns with playoff hockey.  

Buium has what it takes to excel in the NHL.  We just have to be a bit patient.  I'm hoping by mid season, but I have been wrong before.

[1Brotherbill]

Buium has played a lot of hockey over the past few years.  With multiple coaches and systems and has done fine.  Some people would even say he excelled on those teams.  He should be fine.  The longer physical season will show but he will still be better than other options.  

Lambos needs to have a very good camp to make the Wild think long and hard on what they are going to do with him.  Even if it comes down to a showcase for a trade latter in the season he needs to have a really good camp. 

[FredJohnson]

7 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

I wouldn't mind seeing Lambos get a shot as well.

Sneak him into the lineup when Zeev or Jiri need to sit?

[FredJohnson]

Not sure if Zeev has a nickname but how about Zeev “Boom Boom” Buium?

[FredJohnson]

6 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

I would call Lambos the leader in the clubhouse to get the #6D spot. Even temporarily, he was pretty close last season. My guess is he's coming in even bigger this season.

Lambos arrives and transforms into a hockey player!

(that’s a Lamborghini)

[Imyourhuckleberry]

5 hours ago, Patrick said:

Who have the Wild allowed to develop in recent memory?

They have incredibly short leashes on the young players while giving underperforming veterans ample ice time.

Hopefully it changes this year but the track record so far hasn't been great.

Well, they sure let Kaprizov make a lot of mistakes without sending him down to the AHL...😜 I guess scoring at nearly a point per game(as a rookie) buys you a little bit of leniency.