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When Zeev Buium makes his regular-season debut with the Minnesota Wild in September, he’ll be doing so as the crown jewel of their young core of prospects. The defender will only be 19 when the season starts, but expectations are already high. Buium could play a key role for the Wild immediately, especially with Jonas Brodin missing the beginning of the season with an injury. While fans, the organization, and media alike are excited for the player’s rookie season, perhaps no one has higher expectations for Buium than the young defender himself. In an interview with NHL.com, the Denver University product signaled his intention not just to be a part of the Wild’s lineup, but to be an impact player. "I do think that there is an opportunity for me to step in and be a player on the team," Buium said. "And for me, I don't just want to be a guy who's out there. … [I want to] help this team win. So yeah, I'm going to do whatever I can to do that." While Buium has all the tools to fulfill that goal, he’s a young and inexperienced player. The Wild will have to deploy him wisely to get the most out of his skill set while not drowning the player in responsibility. One of the best ways to maximize Buium’s potential would be to give him the opportunity for significant minutes on the power play unit. Buium is exceptionally suited to quarterback a power play unit given his refined offensive talents. In the Athletic’s recent top 100 drafted NHL prospects ranking, Scott Wheeler outlined some traits of Buium’s game that translate well to the extra-attacker unit. “He’s a plus-level skater and handler who plays an extremely involved game in all three zones,” wrote Wheeler, “whether that’s activating into the rush or off the point, shaking pressure on exits or across/off the blue line.” Buium showed those attributes in spades at Denver. The defender led the nation in scoring for two consecutive years due to his elite skating, ability to distribute to his teammates, taking the attack into his own hands when necessary, and using deception and agility to retain possession of the puck. That bundle of skills should translate well to the NHL, especially on power plays when there’s more room on the ice for Buium to go to work. Buium may face challenges early on as he adjusts to the league. Still, the power play is the perfect place for him to utilize his strengths in a controlled environment and become a key contributor for the Wild. If Buium can transition to the NHL as a power play specialist immediately, it would be a massive boon for Minnesota. The team struggled with the extra man last season, ranking 20th in the league with a 20.9% success rate. One of the key components missing from Minnesota’s power play is a true leader from the blueline on the unit. Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon were the primary blueliners the Wild used on the power play last season. They’re both serviceable, but neither is a game-breaking distributor or offensive threat. According to Naturalstattrick.com, 80 defenders played more than 50 minutes on the power play last season. Jared Spurgeon ranked 32nd in points per 60 minutes (4.86), while Faber ranked 49th (3.41). Spurgeon and Faber are both high-level blueliners, but they lack the skills to make them lethal weapons with the man-advantage, specifically. Meanwhile, the best man-advantage units in the league are run mainly from the blue line, featuring an elite skating and passing defenseman who is also a scoring threat. Here are the best special teams units from last season: (Source: ESPN) Of the top ten power plays, seven of the clubs employ defenseman who ranked top-15 in points per 60 on the power play. That group of defenders includes elite puck-moving and skating blueliners such as Cale Makar, Shea Theodore, Luke Hughes, and Victor Hedman. Buium shares many attributes with that group of players. He has similar size and possesses a comparable skill set to Makar, Theodore, and Hughes. They’re all puck-movers and the kind of distributors that have gravitational pull. Even if they aren’t finishing plays, the offense runs through them when they’re on the ice. While Hedman is an outlier in terms of size, he has a similar offensive skill set to one of the best passing defensemen in the league. They can also be a scoring threat when given the space. If Buium can use those skills on Minnesota’s power play, it would solve a few issues at once. Buium can fulfill his aspiration to be a massive asset for the Wild. Defenseman prospects generally take a bit longer to develop than their forward counterparts, so it’s conceivable that Buium could experience some growing pains as a 19-year-old. That won’t be as big an issue if he immediately becomes an impact player on the power play, which will take less time for him to be accustomed to due to his skill set. Buium’s ascent on that unit would also free up some of the load for Faber and Spurgeon. While one of the two would likely be the anchor of their second unit, it’s still less time on the ice. Spurgeon is getting older and could use a lighter assignment. While Faber is still young, he has also played a considerable number of minutes in his short career. It might benefit him to ease that load. The team also desperately needs to improve on special teams. Using Buium in that role would foster his development, benefit the team, and be advantageous for the other defenders' usage. How Buium adjusts to the NHL will be one of the most fascinating storylines for the Wild this season. They stand to get the most out of him by making him a focal point of their power play unit.

I'm done. As Mats Zuccarello has pushed later and later into his 30s, I've been wondering when the moment Father Time claims his victory over the seemingly ageless Norwegian wonder. It's gotta happen sometime, right?! Nope. Or at least, not last year. Zuccarello turned 37 last September, and while many of his fellow NHL Old Guys have been bounced from the league entirely by that age, "The Lizard of Oslo" stayed productive. Through 69 games last season, he scored 19 goals (tied for the fourth-most of his career) and 54 points (his seventh-most). Sure, he missed 13 games, but that injury was... let's say "atypical." You can't even credit Kirill Kaprizov for keeping him afloat last year, either. Not really. Zuccarello played only 44% of his power play minutes with Kaprizov, as well as less than a third of his 5-on-5 minutes. During his 40 games played without his usual running mate in the lineup, Zuccarello still mustered 10 goals and 27 points. Is the shoe gonna drop at age-38? I'm tired of forecasting it. Until proven otherwise, I've got to give Zuccarello the benefit of the doubt. Over the past half-decade, he's had as much staying power as almost any Old Guy we've seen during the Post-Lockout Era. Over the last 20 years, we've seen 68 forwards log 300 or more games between ages-33 and 37. Here's how the top-10 stacks up in terms of points per game: Sidney Crosby, 1.15 Daniel Alfredsson, 1.14 Martin St. Louis, 1.10 Alex Ovechkin, 1.06 Patrice Bergeron, 0.92 MATS ZUCCARELLO, 0.91 Ray Whitney, 0.92 Anze Kopitar, 0.86 Joe Thornton, 0.85 Patrik Elias/Jarome Iginla, 0.83 That's an absurd list to be on. Crosby, St. Louis, Ovechkin, Bergeron, Kopitar, Thornton, and Iginla are all either already in the Hall of Fame or locks to get there. Alfredsson and Elias are also borderline Hall guys. And here's Zuccarello, producing much bigger numbers in his mid-30s than he ever had before. There isn't much reason to think he can't do it again, except "Old." Zuccarello may continue to play most of his even-strength minutes without Kaprizov. With Matt Boldy, Vladimir Tarasenko, and even Danila Yurov in the mix next season, the Wild's superstar won't lack for options on the wing. Even so, his spot on Minnesota's top power play unit is almost assured, and his ability to not just distribute, but find Kaprizov, specifically, with space, is likely to help keep his numbers up. His work on the man advantage is a safety net, but let's not forget that he also showed significant chops when it came to driving offense at 5-on-5 last season. Zuccarello was one of just seven Wild forwards to have an on-ice goals-for percentage above 50% (51.3%), and Minnesota scored 2.62 goals per hour with Zuccarello on the ice at 5-on-5 last year. The only players to see better results were Kaprizov (3.18 per hour) and Marco Rossi (2.77). Minnesota's added depth is another reason for optimism. The Wild acquired Tarasenko, which could mean that John Hynes won't feel like he has to load up his top line with Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Joel Eriksson Ek. That'd be a perfect scenario for Zuccarello to continue exploiting the chemistry he has with Kaprizov and formed with Rossi at the start of last season. But even if Boldy gets the nod with Kaprizov on the top line, Zuccarello's options down the lineup are much better than in the past. Last season, if Zuccarello wasn't with Kaprizov or Boldy, his next-best alternative was Marcus Johansson. Now, it's Tarasenko. Sure, you can point to Tarasenko's stat line (11 goals, 33 points) being nearly identical to Johansson's (11 goals, 34 points). Still, Tarasenko was much better at creating dangerous scoring chances than Johansson last season. Even an old version of Tarasenko is likely to have retained more scoring talent than Johansson. And if Tarasenko doesn't work out? No sweat, Yurov or Liam Öhgren are there to take a spot on the wing if needed, and both have the talent to be productive goal-scorers. That's three viable options to line up opposite Zuccarello before we have to start considering someone like Johansson in that spot, and that's good news for Zuccarello's quest to keep it going at age-38. Banking on a 38-year-old to remain not just productive, but one of the better point-producers in recent Old Guy memory, is a decent way to look silly down the road. But look, Zuccarello has been spitting in the face of Father Time for this long without a downfall. Until further notice, I can't bet against him keeping a good chunk of his production going for the 2025-26 season.

The Minnesota Frost are back-to-back Walter Cup Champions, but they lost several key players in the 2025 Expansion Draft. The Frost chose Kendall Cooper in the 1st round, 6th overall, to build back their defensive unit and add immediate depth to their roster. Minnesota signed Cooper to a 2-year, standard player agreement. Minnesota initially protected defenseman Lee Stecklein and forwards Kendall Coyne-Schofield and Taylor Heise. During the initial expansion signing window, PWHL Vancouver poached defensemen Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques. Vancouver came back for seconds during the expansion draft and signed forwards Brooke McQuigge and Denisa Křížová to their team, further hampering the Frost offensively. The Frost opted for a defenseman for their first pick, likely because Thompson and Jaques left a meaningful void in the defensive zone. Thompson scored 31 goals and 56 assists over 129 games at Princeton. She also had 4 goals and 14 assists during the 2024-25 PWHL regular season, as well as 6 assists in the playoffs. Jaques scored 61 goals and 95 assists over 172 games at Ohio State University and helped out Minnesota with 7 goals and 15 assists this past season, along with 2 goals and 5 assists during the playoffs. Cooper has comparable college stats and a rocket of a shot. She played for 5 years at Quinnipiac University, where she scored 33 goals and 83 assists over 158 games. Thompson and Jaques already have multiple professional seasons, and it will take Cooper time to develop. Still, there is ample evidence that she has considerable upside. The Frost will contend for a third championship if she’s still able to pick corners like this in the PWHL: Cooper was the 2024-25 recipient of the Wayne Dean Sportsmanship award and earned a gold and silver medal playing for Team Canada’s U18 team. Canada has also named her one of the top 3 players for the U18 Worlds twice. During a post-draft interview with Cooper, Frost GM Melissa Caruso explained that Minnesota needed to rebuild its core defense and add replacement forwards, and specifically was looking for players with speed, strength, hockey smarts, and physicality. Caruso felt that Cooper had that offensive ability and great hockey IQ they were looking for, and anticipates Cooper to be an “immediate contributor” on the blue line. Her physical speed and quick decisions are evident in her playing style. In this clip, Cooper picks up a pass and makes an evasive move, but holds onto the puck. She decides to make a pass down low because she doesn’t have a good shooting lane, and then supports her teammate, Maddy Samoskevich, by giving her a takeover passing lane and drawing a Union College forward with her. In doing so, she gave Samoskevich space to shoot and score, earning Cooper an assist. The PWHL is one of the few leagues that allow body checking, which makes for a much more physical game and can be a challenging transition for recent college graduates who have not previously played with body checking. Cooper noted in the interview that she had played boys' hockey growing up and had experienced a year of hitting. Up against players as tall as 6’2, she learned to keep her head up and deal with the physicality of the game. Cooper is also 5'8", which will help her hold her own against more seasoned players. Minnesota needs players who can grow with the team and eventually become leaders. While Cooper will be a rookie for the 2025-26 season, she could potentially serve as a role model for younger players in the future. Cooper discussed her captainship for Quinnipiac as a fifth-year player on the Roar podcast and how she helped guide 14 new players on the roster. When asked about her role as captain, Cooper stressed the importance of “setting an example both on and off the ice” and utilizing her assistant captains to help new players adapt. She’s coming from a talented team and a winning program. Quinnipiac went 22-12-4 in the 2024-25 season and made it to the ECAC quarterfinals. Being able to play at a high level for 60 minutes and dig in to make the play in key moments is a skill in itself that players on winning teams develop. Cooper’s experience with 60-minute hockey at Quinnipiac will help her adjust to the Frost and PWHL level. Minnesota finished the 2024-25 season ranked third in power play percentage at 17.9%, trailing the Toronto Sceptres and New York Sirens, which had winning percentages of 25.8% and 18.5%, respectively. The Frost have lost some of the players who helped contribute to their success on the power play, and they have room to improve from last season. Hopefully, Cooper will also be able to play that role. Here are a few more of her top plays at Quinnipiac: The Frost may have lost key defenseman Thompson and Jaques during the PWHL expansion process. However, they capitalized on the regular draft by choosing Cooper as their top pick. Cooper’s strength, speed, and hockey IQ will likely make her an integral part of the team in the 2025-26 season, and potentially a member of their leadership in future seasons.

The Minnesota Wild are still looking for their Christmas miracle on West 7th Street. General manager Bill Guerin should add New York Rangers’ star forward Artemi Panarin to his wishlist. Panarin is more of a trade deadline target, but the Wild could target Panarin sooner than that. Here's why Guerin should keep a close eye on the Rangers: The Rangers aren't in a rush to extend Panarin New York isn’t rushing to extend Panarin. He’s approaching his mid-30s, at which point he's expected to decline. However, Brad Marchand is showing everyone that age is just a number. Panarin is a much better player than Marchand, though. The Rangers may be looking for cap flexibility. They recently extended Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year, $92 million extension ($11.5 million AAV). They traded Chris Kreider to the Anaheim Ducks for cap space. Don't be surprised to see them make more roster changes. If the Rangers start the season with more regression from their top players in Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, and Alexis Lafreniere, then Panarin would likely be open to a trade. Don't be surprised if the Wild are interested in him, especially Kaprizov. Could Kaprizov convince Panarin to come to Minnesota? Panarin is declining, but still a productive player Panarin, 33, may no longer be a 100-point player, but the Wild don’t need that. They have Kaprizov. Panarin just needs to be a point-per-game player. We’ve seen what Mats Zuccarello is capable of as Kaprizov's 37-year-old sidekick. Panarin undoubtedly can do better than Zuccarello. Panarin finished tied for 13th with 37 goals in all situations, ahead of: Jason Robertson (35) Kevin Fiala (35) Auston Matthews (33) Sidney Crosby (33) Seth Jarvis (32) Mikko Rantanen (32) Nathan MacKinnon (32) Sebastian Aho (29) Brady Tkachuk (29) Jack Eichel (28) Mitch Marner (27) Matt Boldy (27) Panarin was tied for 30th with primary assists with 27 in all situations, ahead of: Sam Reinhart (24) Brayden Point (23) William Nylander (23) Matthew Tkachuk (23) Boldy (23) Kaprizov (22) Robertson (22) Jarvis (22) Panarin was 9th in 11.6 goals above expected in all situations, ahead of: Point (11) Kyle Connor (10.8) Kyrou (10.6) Nikita Kucherov (10) Fiala (6.5) Jake Guentzel (6.3) Kaprizov (4.6) Aho (4.1) Tim Stützle (3.8) MacKinnon (2.5) Reinhart (2.2) Panarin finished 26th in Goals Per 60 Minutes (G/60) with 1.41 goals in all situations, ahead of: Fiala (1.4) M. Tkachuk (1.39) Jarvis (1.36) Kucherov (1.34) Jack Hughes (1.25) Rantanen (1.1) Aho (1.1) Eichel (1.06) Connor McDavid (1.06) Boldy (0.97) Panarin finished 20th in Points Per 60 Minutes (P/60) with 3.39 points in all situations, ahead of: Robertson (3.29) Point (3.28) Hughes (3.24) Nylander (3.15) Aleksander Barkov (3.14) Rantanen (3.03) Reinhart (3) Boldy (2.63) Panarin was tied for 120th in 5-on-4 G/60 goals with 1.55, ahead of: Eichel (1.45) Boldy (1.44) Kucherov (1.3) Mitch Marner (1.3) Hughes (1.27) Kaprizov (0.95) Aho (0.9) Stützle (0.45) Panarin finished 25th in 5-on-4 Assists Per 60 Minutes (A/60) with 4.65 assists, ahead of: Matthews (4.37) Leon Draisaitl (4.28) M.Tkachuk (4.09) Aho (4.05) Nylander (3.78) Point (3.19) Boldy (3.13) Jarvis (3.04) Fiala (2.81) Rantanen (2.79) Robertson (2.17) Panarin and Crosby are the “old” timers on this list, and they're showing that age is only a number. Panarin bested someone like Matthews, who finished one goal shy of 70 goals in 2023-24. MacKinnon is a consistent 100-point scorer, but wasn't able to beat Panarin. Marner became a 100-point scorer for the first time, but it wasn't enough. Eichel finally broke out into a 90-point producer, yet fell short of beating Panarin. Panarin recorded a better G/60 than McDavid, who’s supposedly the best player in the world. Panarin also proved his worth as a better A/60 producer than Draisaitl. McDavid and Draisaitl are the NHL's best present-day duo despite not having a Stanley Cup, showing that Panarin can still hang with the best. Although he’s 33, Panarin will likely remain in his prime for the next three years. When he approaches his late 30s, we'll start to see a real decline. However, I still expect him to remain a top-six/middle-six winger in his 40s. He has become the best undrafted player since Martin St. Louis. Alex Ovechkin passed Wayne Gretzky in goals, but Panarin is on a journey to pass St. Louis in scoring. Now it's Panarin's turn to make history of his own: 163 points away from tying St. Louis (1033) 89 goals away from tying St. Louis (391) 74 assists away from tying St. Louis (642) Panarin should likely pass St. Louis within two years. Will it be with the Rangers, though? How likely is Kaprizov to convince Panarin to waive his NMC? The Wild must ensure that Panarin truly wants to play in Minnesota. How much can Kaprizov convince Panarin to play with him on the top line? The Wild will have to prove to Panarin that they are a legit contender, much like they need to with Kaprizov. For example, the Colorado Avalanche traded Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes, where he and Aho are close friends. Aho was excited due to their history and Finnish connection. However, that wasn't enough to keep Rantanen in Carolina. Rantanen preferred to play with the Dallas Stars rather than the Hurricanes and forced a trade. Guerin should be all-in on Panarin if the Rangers don't sign him. The Wild can excel at a new level with Panarin dominating with Kaprizov. Panarin would also be reuniting with Vladimir Tarasenko, which should be another reason for him to waive the no-trade clause. However, Panarin could still choose a better destination to compete. Panarin is regressing, but at a slow pace. Ovechkin and Marchand have shown to be elite veterans. Panarin is more than capable of being an elite veteran and could help drive winning for the Wild.