By Justin Wiggins -
When was the last time Minnesota Wild fans were this excited for a prospect finishing up their collegiate career?
The energy from Minnesota following Denver University’s loss to Western Michigan in the Frozen Four last night had nothing to do with a hatred toward the defending national champions. We’re just excited to add Zeev Buium to the roster, an inevitable outcome now that his college season is over.
Buium and multiple sources have strongly hinted that he won't return to Denver for his junior season. Minnesota's announcement of Buium signing his entry-level contract should come any day now. Perhaps it will come Saturday while he hangs around St. Louis for the reveal of the Hobey Baker Award this evening.
But the Buium discourse has already begun. Many fans hope the dynamic defenseman can jump straight into the Wild’s lineup, similar to Brock Faber’s ascension two years ago, and make an instant impact.
Yet, there is still a faction of fans who have quickly put the brakes on that idea. Buium isn't nearly as polished defensively as Faber was two years ago, and he’s also going to be over a full year younger than Faber was at the time. The Wild are also deep on the blue line, with established veterans patrolling the third pairing.
But make no mistake -- Buium will get at least one regular-season game before the season ends as a test run. If his elite offensive upside transitions immediately to the NHL and he holds up adequately in his own zone, let the debate begin for his spot in the starting lineup for the playoffs.
However, if his defense is an issue, it will be difficult to supplant Jon Merrill or Zach Bogosian in the lineup.
Right?
Not so fast. Just because the Wild are hesitant to remove a veteran defenseman from the lineup, it shouldn’t stop them from getting creative and have Buium dressed for Game 1 of the first round.
A lot of this is assumption. What if his offense doesn’t immediately translate? Still, the Wild need to start putting plans in place just in case Buium is as dynamic in the offensive zone as he looks to be. What if Buium plays in the regular season finale against the Anaheim Ducks and is lights out on the power play?
If that happens, it will be extremely difficult to put him in the press box. Every power play chance in the playoffs can be the turning point of any game -- or series, for that matter.
But the Wild don’t need to choose between Buium or Merrill and Bogosian. Instead, if Buium is as advertised, they should open Round 1 with a starting lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Sure, the Wild are much deeper up front with Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek back. But even with a hypothetical fourth line of Ryan Hartman between Yakov Trenin and Justin Brazeau, two skaters amongst those three would not have nearly the impact Buium could have as the seventh defenseman garnering power play minutes.
Brazeau and Trenin are in their first years in Minnesota and intrigued Bill Guerin because of how their size could impact a long series in the postseason. But neither has been all that inspiring in a Minnesota sweater. The case could be made that Buium would have a far bigger impact in a limited role as a powerplay specialist.
Another positive behind this strategy of only dressing 11 forwards means the Wild would have to double shift a few players a couple of times a period. It’s never a bad thing to create more ice time for Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, two of the better players in franchise history. Trading out Brazeau or Trenin’s minutes for more Kaprizov/Boldy plus Buium on the powerplay is a massive net positive for the Wild.
If anyone reading this is now thinking how unheralded such a strategy is, might I remind you that this exact move sunk the Wild in the playoffs just a few years ago against the St. Louis Blues?
In the 2022 playoffs, the Wild raced out to a 2-1 series lead over their Central Division rivals. Then Craig Berube got creative with his lineup, deploying an 11F/7D format starting in Game 4. The Blues won the next three games, knocking the Wild out in six games. Berube’s creativity enabled him to out-coach Dean Evason and give his team the lift it needed for the first-round upset.
What Berube did is similar to what I am proposing the Wild do to start the playoffs, should Buium’s offense translate immediately in his NHL debut.
Knowing the Wild were susceptible to minor penalties, Berube turned to offensive-minded defenseman Scott Perunovich to be his seventh defenseman starting in Game 4. He elevated him to the top powerplay unit and was extremely selective in his 5-on-5 usage, only deploying him in favorable spots to continue tapping into his offensive potential when possible.
The result? Perunovich powered the Blues man advantage to a series win. In the final three games, St. Louis' power play converted on 33% of their chances. In those three games, Perunovich didn’t play more than 12 minutes at any point but still recorded three assists, with two coming on the man advantage.
Outside of his power play usage, Berube deployed Perunovich sparingly. He called Perunovich over the boards for offensive zone draws, knowing he could maximize his offensive talent while not risking his defensive warts negatively impacting the game.
In those three games, Perunovich started 11 shifts in the offensive zone at 5-on-5 and just one in his own end. He recorded the primary assist on one of those shifts, and Minnesota never scored a goal with the Hibbing native on the ice.
That's the exact strategy the Wild should deploy with Buium when the playoffs start. The question doesn’t need to be which defenseman Buium should replace. Instead, it should be whether John Hynes can be creative enough to get the best out of his dynamic blue liner.
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