By Tony Abbott -
Brock Faber set an unrealistic standard for Minnesota Wild defensive prospects. The former Golden Gopher came straight from getting to the National Championship Game to the NHL lineup for a playoff team. The smooth-skating defenseman got all of 40 minutes of regular-season warm-up time before stepping into a regular shift during the playoffs.
Welcome to the NHL, kid.
But, incredibly, he thrived right away. His skating and defense came as advertised, and he showed more poise than any 20-year-old defenseman could be expected to have.
Two years later, the Wild are hoping that Zeev Buium can make an even crazier leap to the NHL. The Wild drafted Buium in June, and the Denver Pioneers defenseman turned 19 in December. How often has a defenseman gone from the draft to the NHL playoffs in ten months this century?
Three. Charlie McAvoy (2016 Draft), Adam Larsson (2011), and Cam Fowler (2010). If you want to give credit to Thomas Harley (2019), who got just under 11 minutes in one playoff game... fine, make it four.
It's ridiculous to expect such a young defenseman to make a playoff team's roster with no NHL experience. It's silly to think a 19-year-old can step into the pros and show Brock Faber's level of maturity and hockey sense. Rationally, I understand this.
Even having said all that... Other than age and NHL experience, what has Buium done to show he can't be the exception? That he can't help the Minnesota Wild when they make the playoffs?
It's not his resume, which is downright Faber-esque. He's already led the Pioneers to a National Championship while logging the most minutes of anyone in the NCAA. Like Faber, Buium led Team USA to a Gold Medal at the World Junior Championship, even making the breakout pass that secured the Golden Goal in overtime.
Better yet, Buium will go to the NHL with an offensive track record that we've arguably never seen before. He led NCAA defensemen in points (50) last season, enough for him to finish among the top 10 players overall. He's likely going to repeat the feat. No draft-eligible NCAA defenseman scored more points than Buium last season, and only Lane Hutson scored more points in his Draft+1 year in the NCAA.
The talent is there, and so is the track record of stepping up in gigantic games. There's just one more part of the equation: The need. And it doesn't take much searching to see how Buium could benefit Minnesota, even in high-stakes playoff games.
When healthy, the Wild seem to have the left side of their defense settled between Jonas Brodin, Jake Middleton, and Jon Merrill. Brodin is the quintessential shutdown defenseman, Middleton has the coaching staff's trust despite second-half struggles alongside Faber, and Merrill has performed well in his defensive third-pairing role. John Hynes has Minnesota playing some of the lowest-event hockey in the league, and their left defensemen are perfectly suited for these tight-checking games.
As much as games can turn to defensive slugfests in the playoffs, special teams are also often a determining factor. Minnesota's penalty kill gets most of the scrutiny, which has allowed a mediocre Wild power play to fly under the radar. The Wild have scored just 7.15 goals per hour with the man advantage (which has actually trended upward since Kirill Kaprizov's injury), ranking 21st in the NHL. The Carolina Hurricanes and Los Angeles Kings are the only playoff teams that have performed worse.
Buium has the skill to be an instant injection of offense for the power play. At Denver and with Team USA, he's proven to be a difference-maker in transition and within a structured set-up.
Scott Wheeler, who ranked Buium as the NHL's second-best prospect in The Athletic, breaks down all the skills he brings to the power play:
"His shakes and deception have gone from a strength to a game-breaking quality. His head is always on a swivel. He opens up and walks the line to create lanes for his shot and pass so well, even working off his off-side. He side-steps past opposing players with ease."
It might be difficult to convince Hynes to trade a known quantity in Merrill to put in an untested rookie, but the upside is more than worth any risk. The problem for Minnesota is that even if Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek return to the lineup, they will be huge underdogs in the first round. The Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars have toppled the Wild's core over the past few postseason trips. The Winnipeg Jets seem to have Minnesota's number, and the Colorado Avalanche have Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
Partly because of the Wild's salary cap restrictions, Minnesota will enter any first-round matchup with a massive talent deficit. No offense to Merrill (or, if you prefer, the struggling Middleton), but it's very unlikely that they will turn the tide of fortune in Minnesota's favor. Fair or not, you can say definitively they haven't in three postseason trips so far.
But Buium can close the talent gap, and that's something the Wild must seriously consider. It will probably take some picking and choosing of spots to get him into the games. Remember, even Faber averaged under 15 minutes a night against Dallas as a rookie. Still, it shouldn't be difficult to use Buium as a power play specialist who can draw into some sheltered minutes at 5-on-5.
Maybe these expectations are way too high, but all Buium does is pass tests. He's got the National Championship, and he's got the Gold Medal. Why not put his powers to the ultimate test and try to get the Wild out of the first round for the first time in a decade?
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