The Minnesota Wild have selected Zeev Buium with the 12th overall pick.
The Minnesota Wild have selected Zeev Buium with the 12th overall pick.
The Minnesota Wild made the first trade in the NHL Draft. The Wild moved up from the 13th overall pick to the 12th overall pick. They traded the 13th along with a 2025 third round pick for the Philadelphia Flyers' 12th overall pick.
With the pick, the Wild selected Zeev Buium a defenseman from the University of Denver.
Buium, 18, should've been a finalist for the Hobey Baker award. He won the National Championship with Denver University and won a Gold Medal with USA at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships. He had three goals and six points in seven games for USA.
He has connections to Minnesota as well. Buium played hockey growing up in Minnesota with Shattuck St. Mary's.
Not only did Buium win the National Championship but he also won the NCHC Championship with Denver. Both Championships took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota, in front of many Wild brass.
The 6-foot defenseman turned it on when it mattered the most. In his last 15 games of the season, Buium had four goals and 12 assists for 16 points. He finished the season with 11 goals, 39 assists, and 50 points in 42 games.
Buium had a better season, based on production in the NCAA, than the second overall pick by the Chicago Artyom Levshunov.
According to Hockey Prospecting, Buium has similar draft comps to guys like Quinn Hughes, Evan Bouchard, and Juuso Valimaki.
The Wild have had one of their prospects, Rieger Lorenz, playing at Denver for the last two years. Buium and Lorenz connected with a goal in the NCAA National Championship. It is likely the Wild's scouting department saw a bit of Buium this year, and clearly liked what they saw.
It is expected Buium will likely go back to College to play with Lorenz at Denver before he turns pro.
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