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  • Wild Trade Up To Select Defenseman Zeev Buium At 12th Overall

    Image courtesy of © Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
    Thomas Williams

    By Thomas Williams -

    The Minnesota Wild saw a player dropping through the first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and took full advantage. Announced right before the 12th overall pick, the Wild trade with the Philadelphia Flyers to move up exactly one slot and get a very good defenseman.

    For the 13th overall pick and a 2025 third-round pick, the Wild moved up and selected University of Denver defenseman Zeev Buium. A player that was projected go anywhere from third overall, to anywhere else in the first 10 selections -- and the Wild got him at 12th overall.

    Buium was simply one of the most electric defensemen in college hockey last season, as one of the youngest blueliners in the NCAA. He scored 11 goals and 50 points in just 42 points as a freshman, something that is very, very rarely seen. Purely, he is a special talent and the Wild knew almost immediately to take full advantage of him slipping -- just like they did with goaltender Jesper Wallstedt a few years ago.

    What exactly is Buium like on the ice? We turn to our friends at Elite Prospects:

    "Zeev Buium was the best draft-eligible defender in all of college hockey this year – maybe one of the best in the country, period. The counting stats tell that story well enough, but further scrutiny only bears this out in more stark relief. Because it’s one thing for a defenceman to lead the country in scoring at well north of a point a game clip as a 17- and 18-year-old freshman; it’s another entirely to do it while handling the assignments laid at his feet.

    "Buium started the year at the top of Denver’s depth chart, and that’s where he finished it. All told, he played 1084:55 all-situations minutes, the most of anyone in college, 18 clear of second place with two games in hand. He took on the opposition’s best, night in and night out, and escaped with a plus-32 goal differential at evens, the third-best mark in the nation. All the while chipping in with 50 points in 42 contests – the most ever by a first-time draft-eligible blueliner. For many, watching Buium this year elicited memories of Quinn Hughes back in 2018, an altogether reasonable response given the similarity of their profiles"

    That is some praise.

    Next up, the Wild will start their second day of the 2024 NHL Draft with the 45th overall selection in Round 2.

    By Thomas Williams  

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    Tony Abbott
    4 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

    Agree.  Who does 97 have more confidence he can make a hockey play with:  midzy or Z?   Eventually it’s Z Bubble in landslide.   Eiserman must have more skeletons than just not liking to backcheck. 

    Buium could just be better.

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    Mateo3xm
    17 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

    And it shouldn’t take him too long to make the NHL either. - is that right after Kaprizov leaves? 😜

    Kap is going to leave if he wants to. If he wants to stay he will. This pick only helps things. Who could we possibly have gotten that was better that would “make Kap want to stay more”?

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    Mateo3xm
    7 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

    what kind of an impact are we talking about here? i see it as very minimal. we have our top 4 D set, as i am hearing Midds will get his $ and term. So thats top 4. Chissy is here with Bogo as 3rd pair. Are we saying Zeev is going to come in as a sub for bottom 3? wowza that's very exciting.

    and if he is still raw and not ready? no worries - wild have one of the best prospects in NHL - that D has been marinating quiet well and will surely impress! or not yet? few more years? (Hunt? Johansson? Lambos? Masters? O'Rourke? Peart? Spacek?) 

    Maybe instead let's hold the excitement a bit. So we did nothing yet with our biggest need - which is to improve the team NOW. 

    I would stay away from Laine (i already wrote on him before). Potentially i would prefer we use Zeev, Rossi, and other assets to get a proven scorer that would move either EK or Boldy down one line. And then aggressively push for Guentzel or Marchy signing. It's all doable but require planning and execution. Something i don't see with Wild. 

    You think that’s going to make him want to stay more?? What about our porous defense? Getting”Marchy” or Guentzel definitely isn’t getting us a cup. You need WAY more than that. You don’t seem to actually think about things. You just piss and moan about everything and come up with ridiculous scenarios that don’t have a chance of happening. 

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    OldDutchChip
    3 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

    Kap is going to leave if he wants to. If he wants to stay he will. This pick only helps things. Who could we possibly have gotten that was better that would “make Kap want to stay more”?

    you think drafting a prospect on D that will likely play a minimal role this coming year, given that we are set with our 3 pairs, is better than maybe using that pick and other assets and getting Buch or Tuch and saying "here Kap, you no longer have to drag our asses to the playoffs, and here are some 6 ft players that are proven year over year that will stand with and for you" see where i am going with this? 

    Edited by OldDutchChip
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    OldDutchChip
    3 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

    You think that’s going to make him want to stay more?? What about our porous defense? Getting”Marchy” or Guentzel definitely isn’t getting us a cup. You need WAY more than that. You don’t seem to actually think about things. You just piss and moan about everything and come up with ridiculous scenarios that don’t have a chance of happening. 

    another hit below the belt! ouch - i get it - i am an idiot, one who can't read, write, now i can't think too! groovy. 

    but i'll try one more time to offer what little wisdom i have to you mateo -

    our "best player", our "all-world player", our "greatest player in the history of the club" is likely going to walk should no drastic change occurs. to simply say
    "oh well, he walks then he walks" or "oh well, he stays then he stays" (as if there was NOTHING one could do), is idiotic and lazy. this is where a team (owner and GM) decide - they either continue to build for the future (in which case you likely have to consider trading Kap) or you prioritize him and accelerate some of timeline and potentially adjust the strategy and how you execute it. Patience and youth suffers in this case, and risk increases. But it shows Kap that we are committed to winning and view him as the number one priority. By getting him proven players that delivered, players who stand with and for him, we say - we are building the team for the NOW that we want you to lead and that you see being good enough to lead. that's it. understand - he will NOT spend his prime years mentoring all these sublime prospects that you are drooling over. he will thank the fans and move on. If you want a team with Kap, you listen to me. if not, go celebrate that you got another prospect. and don't worry ,with Kap gone - drafting prospects will be your favorite time of year. 

     

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    MacGyver

    So exactly what is the path for this Buium kid?  Does he stay in Denver one or two more years? Is he NHL ready now or does he go to the baby Wild first?  It just seems to me prospects are not the Wilds problem developing them is. 

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    Protec
    16 hours ago, MacGyver said:

    So exactly what is the path for this Buium kid?  Does he stay in Denver one or two more years? Is he NHL ready now or does he go to the baby Wild first?  It just seems to me prospects are not the Wilds problem developing them is. 

    I see him going back to Denver to try winning another. That makes a ton of sense and he'll probably become a Hobey Baker finalist. 

    Then, my guess is he joins the Wild for a playoff run. He won't spend any time in IA. His skating is strong enough to jump in similar to Faber. He could stay another year but if he dominates NCAA which isn't hard to imagine, NHL playoffs and ELC are right there. 

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    Gritty.Not.Pretty
    On 6/29/2024 at 12:18 PM, Pewterschmidt said:

    Ads and page reloads are killing the mobile experience again today.  Should survey how many regular commenters use mobile vs desktop to see what % is affected.  

    I use Brave and it does pretty well

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    Gritty.Not.Pretty
    On 7/1/2024 at 6:21 AM, Pewterschmidt said:

    Is brave a mobile browser?

    Yes. I use it on my iPad and my Motorola phone. Some sites complain when I use it because it shuts down ads, so much so, that some developers won’t allow you to view their site unless you drop ad blockers. There are some sites that I can’t use without Brave because the ads drive me nuts. The content is constantly being shuffled around the screen— up, down, probably even sideways!

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