Zeev Buium Used the World Stage To Build Anticipation For Next Season

Offensive totals and +/- by the defensemen this season.

Spurgeon: 32, +8

Faber: 29, -2 (ick)

Middleton: 21, +11

Brodin: 20, +10

Bogo: 16, -6

Chisholm: 12, -5

Merrill: 6, -8

I mean...Buium had to help, right?

1 hour ago, Citizen Strife said:

Offensive totals and +/- by the defensemen this season.

Spurgeon: 32, +8

Faber: 29, -2 (ick)

Middleton: 21, +11

Brodin: 20, +10

Bogo: 16, -6

Chisholm: 12, -5

Merrill: 6, -8

 

I mean...Buium had to help, right?

 

 

 

 

The Wild as a whole were pretty icky. You can make the excuse that they battled injuries and whatever. But -2 is pretty bad, I’ll give him the pass this time. Hopefully Middleton stays offensive and it’s not just a unicorn of a year.

-2 on the whole year isn't horrible, especially if there was a run of injuries that affected things. When Faber was merely eating minutes, to get us through games, that was useful too. 

Personally, I felt that the 4 nations tournament was too much for Faber with his responsibilities on the team. I thought he came back looking drained, more so than Boldy did. 

I do think Buium will help, but I still see a logjam at the position. I'd really like to see a Jiricek-Brodin pairing, and a Buium-Spurgeon pairing. That leaves Middleton-Faber as a pairing that has been successful in the past. I think with those pairings, you could probably just role the pairings and give them pretty much equal time. 

This will help Faber with his minutes and probably give him more in the tank as the season goes on. There is also the possibility Faber simply went through a sophomore slump and will be better next season. Remember, in '24, Midsy had a pretty bad +/-, but he rebounded this season. 

But is he big enough for Billy?

I wouldn’t read anything into how anyone played at the worlds.  I watched several games.  It’s played on Olympic ice (15 feet wider) and there was no checking at all.  Basically glorified scrimmages to put on a show and not get hurt.  Zeev needs to add 20lbs at least of muscle this summer.  We need beef to be able to clear the front of the net.  Right now only Middleton and jiricek have that ability.  Faber, Spurg and Brodin don’t and thus our penalty kill is terrible.  Other teams know they don’t have to pay a price to go to the dirty areas against us. 

2 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

Zeev needs to add 20lbs at least of muscle this summer.

Is that so he can be ~20lbs heavier than Cale Makar? Because Makar should get cut he's so worthless (sarcasm...)

11 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Offensive totals and +/- by the defensemen this season.

Spurgeon: 32, +8

Faber: 29, -2 (ick)

Middleton: 21, +11

Brodin: 20, +10

Bogo: 16, -6

Chisholm: 12, -5

Merrill: 6, -8

 

I mean...Buium had to help, right?

16 minutes ago, PNW Wild said:

Is that so he can be ~20lbs heavier than Cale Makar? Because Makar should get cut he's so worthless (sarcasm...)

I never understand this concept either, but my guess is that they must not think he will be as talented as Makar, so he will need to beef up to play strictly defense. 

29 minutes ago, PNW Wild said:

Is that so he can be ~20lbs heavier than Cale Makar? Because Makar should get cut he's so worthless (sarcasm...)

7 minutes ago, Sam said:

I never understand this concept either, but my guess is that they must not think he will be as talented as Makar, so he will need to beef up to play strictly defense. 

Really your going compare Zeev and Makar?  Let’s see how Zeev develops he is very raw.  The is small that is a fact 

I thought Buium made mistakes against Vegas but played better than Merril on D and gave us more offensive upside.   He simply wasn't used to playing in a league where everyone is elite.  BG needs to let him play next year so he gets acclimated and Zeev will be a staple on our lineup. 

The reason he needs to add 20 lbs. of strength is to take the beating of an NHL season. Guys like Spurgeon are unicorns doing it at their weight. There's a lot more to being a defender than skating well and moving the puck.

Colorado plays a completely different system than the Wild, and the Wild expect their defenders to defend. Buium, against a much bigger Vegas team, battled, but he'll need that strength and weight to tie guys up along the boards, clear the front of the net and absorb punishment from defenders and blocked shots. 

I do think he'll get there. He's the little brother. Did anyone see his brother when he got drafted? The guy is absolutely ripped and about 3" taller. I don't expect Buium to get to his weight, but I do expect him to be at 200. Some of this will be natural filling out, but a lot of it will have to be in the gym. His brother will challenge him more than any of our strength coaches will. It should be a fun time at the Buium estate!

Checking in on Heiskenan and Makar they are listed at 197 and 187. 

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

His brother will challenge him more than any of our strength coaches will. It should be a fun time at the Buium estate!

I wonder if their parents are investing in a beef ranch.

19 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

Really your going compare Zeev and Makar?  Let’s see how Zeev develops he is very raw.  The is small that is a fact 

The point is that just because a prospect isn’t X lbs or Y feet tall does not guarantee they will be ineffective or unsuccessful. It’s absolutely inept to judge them by their physical dimensions. Makar is a prime example of a player that is smaller than average but has succeeded. The comparison isn’t Makar to Zeev, it’s Makar’s size to what many say is too small to succeed.

4 hours ago, FredJohnson said:

The point is that just because a prospect isn’t X lbs or Y feet tall does not guarantee they will be ineffective or unsuccessful. It’s absolutely inept to judge them by their physical dimensions. Makar is a prime example of a player that is smaller than average but has succeeded. The comparison isn’t Makar to Zeev, it’s Makar’s size to what many say is too small to succeed.

Agreed, and if you change out the name Makar for Marchand, it would 100% apply to Rossi...

Trade them all and rebuild. Next year will be the same ol shit plus some shit FA signings. 

17 hours ago, FredJohnson said:

The point is that just because a prospect isn’t X lbs or Y feet tall does not guarantee they will be ineffective or unsuccessful. It’s absolutely inept to judge them by their physical dimensions. Makar is a prime example of a player that is smaller than average but has succeeded. The comparison isn’t Makar to Zeev, it’s Makar’s size to what many say is too small to succeed.

I'll maintain the opinion that it is better to have an NHL body, specifically in the Wild system. Colorado and Dallas both have more of an attacking system and the guys who skate real fast can perform well in that scenario. Although, Heiskanen started out pretty light, he's listed now at 197. Same with Makar who is listed at 187. 

We've had experience with lighter, excellent skating defenders like Brodin. I'm not bashing Brodin because he is excellent at what he does. However, in the playoffs, specifically against the Blues, he gets walked from the corner to the net pretty easily by bigger forwards. Brodin's got an excellent stick too, yet he has trouble clearing the front of the net. 

It also seems like Brodin has lost a step, or, the league has caught up to his speed. With this, he is going to need a little more bulk as he ages, just to tie up forwards and outmuscle them in some situations. Jagr is the one who said the secret to his longevity is he was constantly reinventing himself. I think this will hold true with Brodin. We don't need him to suddenly show up to camp at 215, but putting on 5 lbs. of muscle could help him as he ages, and may help reduce injuries.

But also let's face it, Makar has got scary moves that back off any defender. His acceleration is remarkable, and he has great offensive instincts. Watching Buium, he didn't seem to have that explosion of acceleration, so while Makar can play at 187, I'd suggest Buium will need to be a bit more bulked up to be effective. He's listed at 183, and with his height, around 200 would be a good weight for him.

Incidentally, 1 reason why we get out to 2-1 leads in playoff series and can't close out a series is due to not being thick enough. A 7 game series is grueling. We get 3 games in and wilt. Imagine having to do that 4 times! This year felt a little different. While we lost the final 3 games, they were much tighter than before. But you could see even going into game 3, our physical game was starting to miss as the team wore down. Of course, with your Makar comparison, we got as far as Colorado did.

On 5/31/2025 at 8:33 AM, Citizen Strife said:

Offensive totals and +/- by the defensemen this season.

Spurgeon: 32, +8

Faber: 29, -2 (ick)

Middleton: 21, +11

Brodin: 20, +10

Bogo: 16, -6

Chisholm: 12, -5

Merrill: 6, -8

 

I mean...Buium had to help, right?

 

 

 

 

Faber played 78 games this season. He missed those games after getting hit in the throat with a puck. Hes been extremely durable so far.

Spurg played 66 games

Middleton played 67 games

Brodin played 50 games

Chisholm played 66 games

If you consider how many minutes Faber has had to play and how he’s had to carry this defense because of injuries, I’d say he’s done just fine. It’s probably a lot easier on the body to play half the season. Faber was playing on PK and PP if I’m not mistaken. He had the highest average time on ice on the team at over 25 min a game as a 22 yr old. He’s doing just fine.

On 5/31/2025 at 9:54 AM, Sam said:

The Wild as a whole were pretty icky. You can make the excuse that they battled injuries and whatever. But -2 is pretty bad, I’ll give him the pass this time. Hopefully Middleton stays offensive and it’s not just a unicorn of a year.

-2 isn’t that bad when Spurg played 66 games, Middleton played 67, Brodin played 50 games and Chisholm played 66 games. He’s a second year player playing the most minutes on the team. He definitely hasn’t had much help this year. Considering all the time lost by other players, -2 isn’t still really good.

On 6/2/2025 at 9:20 AM, mnfaninnc said:

I'll maintain the opinion that it is better to have an NHL body, specifically in the Wild system. Colorado and Dallas both have more of an attacking system and the guys who skate real fast can perform well in that scenario.

But how much does 10 more pounds help? What more of an advantage does 2” in height provide? I pay more attention to the results data than the player’s physical data.

Also, how much farther did Colorado and Dallas go in the playoffs?

2 hours ago, FredJohnson said:

But how much does 10 more pounds help? What more of an advantage does 2” in height provide? I pay more attention to the results data than the player’s physical data.

Also, how much farther did Colorado and Dallas go in the playoffs?

10 lbs. means a lot if it is strength weight. I would say Buium needs 17 lbs. for his height. I don't particularly care about height. What is the "results data" that you prefer? Scoring numbers? For Buium, I would look at if he can play in all situations and how effective that is. I would want him to be able to tie up any player along the boards and most players when he doesn't have leverage. I would expect him to gain position around the net, properly box out, and have the strength to win stick battles there. What will make him special is if he can be a superior defender and provide plenty of offense, somewhere in the 50 pt. range. Much of this data will come from the eye test with statistics that back it up. 

I'd also want him to be able to minute munch if needed and be durable. This is where the 17 lbs. comes in. If he gets his body ready to be able to take the punishment, he will be more durable. You'll be able to find unicorns out there and we have one of those on our team, but most players are not unicorns. 

As I said earlier, Colorado bowed out in the same round as we did. And, with a smirk on my face, Dallas got owned by Edmonton 2 round later to break the hopeful hearts of the Dallas fans, something that never grows old!

8 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

10 lbs. means a lot if it is strength weight. I would say Buium needs 17 lbs. for his height. I don't particularly care about height. What is the "results data" that you prefer?

Adding weight means zilch without the skill to use it. Again, there's too much attention on the player's physical traits.

The ultimate result data is wins. Plus/minus is another good one. CORSI is another great player stat. Are lighter players doomed to have poor plus/minus and CORSI? No, so we shouldn't ficus so much on how much players weigh (or how tall they are) and focus on how they play and produce.

4 minutes ago, FredJohnson said:

Adding weight means zilch without the skill to use it. Again, there's too much attention on the player's physical traits

I disagree wholeheartedly with this statement, although the weight must be strength weight and not couch weight. It specifically important to a defender who has to be able to minimalize all sorts of forwards. 

7 minutes ago, FredJohnson said:

The ultimate result data is wins. Plus/minus is another good one. CORSI is another great player stat. Are lighter players doomed to have poor plus/minus and CORSI? No, so we shouldn't ficus so much on how much players weigh (or how tall they are) and focus on how they play and produce.

I will use +/- because it's easy to find, but I never use CORSI numbers. I'd prefer XGF vs. XGA to see how a player is really doing, but those statistics are merely suggestions as to what my eyes will see. I will give grace when a player seems to simply have a run of bad luck, but will not if a defender who is light gets walked to the goal because he's not strong enough to defend. 

Also, remember now, we are moving into an area where playoffs are a given and how to advance in the playoffs. There's a reason why successful teams in the playoffs have redwoods on their blueline.

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Also, remember now, we are moving into an area where playoffs are a given and how to advance in the playoffs. There's a reason why successful teams in the playoffs have redwoods on their blueline.

Like Makar?

(circular reference)

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I disagree wholeheartedly with this statement, although the weight must be strength weight and not couch weight. It specifically important to a defender who has to be able to minimalize all sorts of forwards. 

I vehemently pre-qualify to your statement: size doesn’t matter if they can’t skate or have decent handle. If it is as you say, why don’t teams put a bunch of NFL offensive linemen on the ice? (Because players have to skate and handle, too.) If size were the magic bullet, Jiricek would have been a top-line d-man already.

I suggest that size for defenseman is most needed in clearing the front of the net and reducing injuries. It is important.