Buium is one of three former Minnesota Wild players joining the Vancouver Canucks from the Quinn Hughes trade.
Zeev Buium hasn’t even been a member of the Vancouver Canucks for 24 hours, but the defenceman already has a spot on his new team’s first power play unit. Buium, who has already made an impressive mark in his first 31 games in the NHL, is the main piece in a trade that sent former Canucks captain Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.
Because of his offensive instincts when walking the blue line, many have turned their sights towards Buium being the next iteration of Hughes. But if you ask Buium, the defenceman only has one player he wants to become — himself.
“I want to be me,” Buium said to the media after the Canucks’ practice in New Jersey on Saturday. “Obviously, the kind of player [Hughes] is — he’s a superstar. He’s done so many great things. He’s won the Norris, he’s the top defenceman in the U.S., if not the best defenceman NHL. I think for me, I’ve always liked to watch him and take things from him. But I want to be me. I want to write my own story, and I don’t think I look too much into all that stuff. I just want to become the best player I can be.”
Buium is a special player. While still only 20 years old, the defenceman has won at almost every level of hockey he has played at. Currently, he has NCAA Championships, U18 and U20 World Junior Championships, and a World Championship gold medal to his name. Buium, who was also a finalist for the Hobey Baker during his time at the University of Denver, has made an impressive mark on the game despite only just entering his first NHL season. According to Buium, he’s only getting started.
“I think there’s still a level that I’m not even close to getting to, and that’s exciting. I think for me, it’s every game, every day, is an opportunity to get better,” he explained. “I think it’s been just trending uphill, from the playoffs last year, to training camp this year, to the start of the season, first 10 games, then the next 10 games. Every game, just getting better, so just starting to feel comfortable. It’s still very early into my career, and I’m just trying to do my best.”
While Buium will join the Canucks alongside a couple of former Minnesota teammates in Marco Rossi and Liam Öhgren, these aren’t the only familiar faces that will work alongside the defenceman in Vancouver. Buium previously played with Conor Garland and Drew O’Connor at the 2025 IIHF World Championship, where the three were also coached by Canucks assistant coach Kevin Dean. Buium also has history with Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote, who taught him at a skills camp back when the defenceman was still in his early teens.
“When you’re that young, you’re not being taught. And there’s a lot of things that [Foote] did teach me that have stuck with me until this point, and I still think about it. So it’s really cool to come full-circle, and [now] I’ll be coached by him. He was obviously a special player, and he has just so much experience, so much knowledge to give, and such an awesome human being as well. Very grateful to be coached by him.”
“I worked with Zeev when he was 13 for three years around, but I had no idea this was going down at all,” Foote said of the Canucks’ new defenceman. “I know him well, as a person and as a player, I’ve seen him play a lot of hockey. He’s gonna be a really good hockey player, and he’ll be fun to work with.”
At the end of the day, Buium isn't going to be Quinn Hughes; he's going to be Zeev Buium. That's something Canucks fans should look forward to.
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