While Detroit fans have their eyes on one top defensive prospect, AHL coaches suggest another may soon emerge and make a name for himself.
The Detroit Red Wings are still reportedly looking to add to their lineup as the years continue to add on for their nine-year playoff drought. One of the notable weaknesses on the team last season was defense as they finished bottom 12 in goals against per game and are looking to make significant improvement in this area of their game.
After adding former All-Star goaltender John Gibson, playoffs are on the minds of all Red Wings fans as they wonder if the team's best goaltender in over a decade will be enough to end the drought?
They added a lottery ticket in former first round pick Jacob Benard-Docker, brought in veteran Travis Hamonic and are reportedly looking at giving some prospects a chance to make the main roster. All Detroit fans when they hear defensive prospect immediately rush to 2023 first round pick Axel Sandin-Pellikka, however Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson had another player come to mind.
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When Steve Yzerman returned to the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings">Detroit Red Wings</a> in April 2019 to take over the role of general manager, he didn’t have much to work with in terms of enticing prospects, but since then he has built one of the most highly regarded prospect pools in the NHL.
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We recently spoke to Watson on the state of Detroit's AHL team heading into the upcoming season and a player he mentioned fans should keep an eye on this season is 2021 second round pick Shai Buium. If the name sounds familar, that's because his brother, Zeev, was just selected 12th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2024 NHL Draft. Shai is also an elite defenceman with high upside and has developed well during his first season under Watson's system.
"I thought he had a great first year, the expectation was for him to go and train and have a really good summer, I talk to him the other day and he's been doing that," Watson said "So I'd love to see where he's at at the start of the year, just a puckmover, he sees the ice extremely well, could run on power play, so looking to see the stride that he's made."
Buium made his professional debut during the 2024–25 season with the Griffins, where he impressed by scoring a pair of goals and dishing 23 assists for 25 points over 67 games. Before turning pro, he was a standout defenseman at the University of Denver, recording 14 goals and 61 assists for 75 points with a +61 rating in 120 games. His collegiate career was littered with success as he was apart of two National Championship wins with the Pioneers in 2022 and 2024.
Longtime Red Wings and Griffins defenseman Brian Lashoff has spent the last two seasons behind the bench as an assistant coach, mainly operating as the coach for the defense, and has mentioned Buium as an exciting prospect to watch. Lashoff explained that Buium has taken big strides in his game saying "he definitely started to steadily progress throughout the season, he learned a ton playing pro for the first time, and he got better and better."
Lashoff expanded on the topic by mentioning that he would regularly trust the young Buium with "big minutes" last season and that he has the potential to earn a spot with the Red Wings or a bigger role with the Griffins next season. He finished by explaining that he, like Dan, has heard very positive feedback about how Buium's summer has been going and he's looking forward to coming back in September and seeing the work he's put in.
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Detroit GM Steve Yzerman may continue to look at the players available on the open and trade markets as reports suggest but some of the Red Wings blossoming prospects from the blueline may shift his approach. It could lead to a surprising season from a young blueliner, similar to what we just finished seeing with Simon Edvinsson.
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