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

[Citizen Strife]

5 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I like the idea of this, but I think 1st year should be spent with Spurgeon to mentor him. Spurgy always seems to be in the right position and never get burned. 

That's what I meant.  I think they are going to go Middleton with Faber and Buium with Spurgeon until Brodin is back.  If Buium is basically Kap-level awesome, then it's pretty much Brodin or Buium at Pair 1 with Middleton down at 3 with Jiricek or Bogo.

[mnfaninnc]

13 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

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.

I thought he had a real good camp/preseason last year. My thinking on why Chisholm was expendable is because the difference between Chisholm and Lambos is negligible. Chisholm's only a bit better. Lambos came into last year noticeably larger. My bet is he does this again this offseason.

Just a little stats note, Lambos was hovering somewhere around the -5 mark for most of the season, but really kicked it into gear the last 15 games or so to make it into positive territory. Most of the baby Wild were -double digits. I thought Spacek greatly improved and was a -17. Lambos had really good + numbers in jrs. 

[mnfaninnc]

1 minute ago, Citizen Strife said:

That's what I meant.  I think they are going to go Middleton with Faber and Buium with Spurgeon until Brodin is back.  If Buium is basically Kap-level awesome, then it's pretty much Brodin or Buium at Pair 1 with Middleton down at 3 with Jiricek or Bogo.

Midsy gets his money just about when Buium is out of his ELC. That's pretty good planning.

[Pewterschmidt]

50 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Do you think the costly giveaways Chisholm had late in the year were the reason they moved on? 

I do.  Chizzy had some absolute brain fart giveaways in front of his own net.  One or two and you can chalk it up to freak occurences.  More than that and there's a pattern of a player having the yip's under pressure which is a fatal flaw for an NHL defenseman.  Chizztastic had a number of these type of plays and I believe that soured the Wild.

[MNCountryLife]

34 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Lambos had really good + numbers in jrs.

Let's say for arguments sake that Lambos, Buium and Jiricek play well enough to demand roster spots.  Faber, Buium, Jiricek, Lambos, Brodin, Spurge, Mids and Bogo makes 8 D men.  

Brodin is out for the beginning of the year but when he comes back someone becomes an odd man out.  Do you trade someone? 

If we trade?  I don't see us trading Spurge, Brodin, Faber or Jiricek.  Which means either Bogo, Mids or Lambos are traded.  If Lambos plays well enough to force himself into the lineup I can't see us trading him away at such a young age.  You keep guys like that.  Which really means Bogo and Mids are the trade pawns.  Bogo has very little value to trade away and would likely sit in the press box and be okay with that.  Mids becomes the odd man out.  His 4.35M/AAV becomes valuable as well.  Mids has also shown that he needs a quality guy next to him to really shine.  So he doesn't fall to the 3rd pairing very well.  

If Lambos, Buium and Jiricek play that well you Shouldn't send them down to the A.  It would be a complete waste of an ELC contract.   I really hope you are right in that Lambos shines along with Buium and Jiricek.  That is an extremely good problem to have.

 

[Pewterschmidt]

29 minutes ago, MNCountryLife said:

Brodin is out for the beginning of the year but when he comes back someone becomes an odd man out.  Do you trade someone?

Two of the others will be hurt by this time.  Have you not been paying attention?

[bisopher]

9 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Two of the others will be hurt by this time.  Have you not been paying attention?

I wish I could say you are wrong with that statement, but you're almost assuredly not.  At the same time, having (we hope) eight NHL -capable D means we can weather those injuries much better than we have in past seasons. 

[Patrick]

18 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

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.

I think you missed my point. Many teams allow guys to play in the NHL even if they are not quite ready.  Boldy tore up the AHL before he was called up.  Rossi spent a year longer than needed in the AHL. 

Faber was NHL ready.

I actually thought keeping Boldy and Rossi down was smart because it made sense with the teams timeline.

The point I'm trying to make is the baseline for the rookies is strict but veterans who play significantly below that baseline are given ample ice time.  Its an old school approach than only the Wild seem to use.

 

[B1GKappa97]

18 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

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.

Khusnutdinov and Addison were also given ample ice time to prove they weren't what we were looking for. 

The idea that Guerin/Hynes only play ancient vets is so overblown. 

[Mateo3xm]

On 7/14/2025 at 2:44 PM, Scalptrash said:

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.

Faber is listed at 200lbs.

I believe it was Middleton that even mentioned he has sort of a doughy body type. Gotta remember he’s 22 yrs old. 

[mnfaninnc]

6 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

If Lambos, Buium and Jiricek play that well you Shouldn't send them down to the A.  It would be a complete waste of an ELC contract.   I really hope you are right in that Lambos shines along with Buium and Jiricek.  That is an extremely good problem to have.

The only upside to sending Lambos down under this circumstance is he doesn't have to pass waivers. Secondarily, he gets valuable playing time and can be recalled at a moment's notice. 

I would also suggest that a tradeable guy is Spurgeon. While he is the captain, we've got leaders who can replace him. If the right deal came around, that would be the route I would go and plug Jiricek into the 2nd pairing. Also, there needs to be some patience with him learning, but I think what he adds is more than what he subtracts. 

[mnfaninnc]

6 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Two of the others will be hurt by this time.  Have you not been paying attention?

I'm also quite high on Spacek, and think he may be ready for a couple of callups should disaster occur.

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, Patrick said:

The point I'm trying to make is the baseline for the rookies is strict but veterans who play significantly below that baseline are given ample ice time.  Its an old school approach than only the Wild seem to use

I think what you're noticing is a coach who trusts the vets. It's really hard to trust rookies because they have such rollercoaster seasons. A vet has got a decent track record. You know what you're going to get. Coaches don't like surprises, and rookies give you good and bad surprises. 

We can take Merrill, for instance. Everyone knew he'd have trouble keeping up with the VGKs in the playoffs. But you knew what you had. Buium was a wildcard, and you didn't really know what he was going to do. Yet, it was Merrill, whose mistake cost them a game. In this instance, the decision affected more than just Merrill too, it affected Bogosian who cannot delay one bit on his play or he's blown by. Buium gave him that quick delay which was enough to throw him off his game too. 

I think there needs to be an understanding with Heinzy that this is a different season, and they need ice time. The rookies, in Heinzy's case, may have him grow back hair on his head, but he's got to breathe deeply, close his eyes and realize that the kids will get video taught after the game. 

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

Faber is listed at 200lbs.

I believe it was Middleton that even mentioned he has sort of a doughy body type. Gotta remember he’s 22 yrs old.

That was his weight coming out of UoM. I suspect he's closer to 210 by now. He looked different last season, that he'd added about 5 lbs. of strength. It was needed too. 

[MNCountryLife]

23 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Two of the others will be hurt by this time.  Have you not been paying attention?

I laughed when I read this... but in reality ... it is a very good point.  

[Mateo3xm]

On 7/15/2025 at 11:08 AM, MNCountryLife said:

Let's say for arguments sake that Lambos, Buium and Jiricek play well enough to demand roster spots.  Faber, Buium, Jiricek, Lambos, Brodin, Spurge, Mids and Bogo makes 8 D men.  

Brodin is out for the beginning of the year but when he comes back someone becomes an odd man out.  Do you trade someone? 

If we trade?  I don't see us trading Spurge, Brodin, Faber or Jiricek.  Which means either Bogo, Mids or Lambos are traded.  If Lambos plays well enough to force himself into the lineup I can't see us trading him away at such a young age.  You keep guys like that.  Which really means Bogo and Mids are the trade pawns.  Bogo has very little value to trade away and would likely sit in the press box and be okay with that.  Mids becomes the odd man out.  His 4.35M/AAV becomes valuable as well.  Mids has also shown that he needs a quality guy next to him to really shine.  So he doesn't fall to the 3rd pairing very well.  

If Lambos, Buium and Jiricek play that well you Shouldn't send them down to the A.  It would be a complete waste of an ELC contract.   I really hope you are right in that Lambos shines along with Buium and Jiricek.  That is an extremely good problem to have.

 

I don’t think they trade Midds. He’s one of few D with good nhl defenseman size.

[MNCountryLife]

On 7/15/2025 at 5:42 PM, mnfaninnc said:

I would also suggest that a tradeable guy is Spurgeon. While he is the captain, we've got leaders who can replace him.

I really thought I would see a significant decline in Spurgeon last year.  He surprised me and had a good year.  He will be 37 when his contract expires in 2027.  If he continues to play at his current level I hope we keep him through his contract.  I would think at 37 (turning 38) he would retire.  Such a smart and effective player.  It has been fun to watch him.  I do get why you would move on from him.  But his current skill level gives us a better chance of winning than with a rookie.

[mnfaninnc]

2 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

But his current skill level gives us a better chance of winning than with a rookie.

This is true, the rookie would be an immediate downgrade, but that rookie would also likely be an upgrade soon. He played really well last season, and I'll admit that Spurgeon surpassed my expectations. I don't think we will make a cup run with Spurgeon in the lineup, though, and that's what we are building towards. Unlike the article where Button trashed Jiricek, I believe he will be right at home on the 2nd pairing and have to face less offensive competition than Faber. I also think that pairing him with Brodin will help nullify any mistakes he makes.