Wild prospect Zeev Buium to make NHL debut in playoffs: ‘He’s here for a reason’

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SUMMERLIN, Nev. — Zeev Buium slid right along the blue line, faked a shot to the left flank and in a blink of the eye placed the puck onto Kirill Kaprizov’s blade to his right and along the goal line for a scorching one-timer into an empty side of the cage during a power-play drill.

The 19-year-old defenseman turned his head and looked across to the other side of the rink to hide his very wry smile.

“You see they do it all year,” Buium said a half-hour later in front of a Stanley Cup playoffs backdrop 17 miles from where he was drafted 10 months ago. “I mean, they make incredible plays. They can score from ridiculous angles. And it’s fun to be out there with guys like that who can make plays like that and score from angles like that. If I can get them the puck in areas for them to succeed, that’s my goal.”

Zeev Buium can be a factor on power plays with zone entries like this #mnwild. pic.twitter.com/mk10FGKmca

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 19, 2025

Sunday night, 2 ½ miles from where he was drafted inside the Sphere, the Wild’s prized first-round pick will do something he never could have imagined last June when he heard his name selected: Become the first player in Wild history to make his NHL debut during a playoff game when the team opens its first-round series against the Golden Knights at rabid T-Mobile Arena.

Buium will take Jon Merrill’s spot on the third defense pair with Zach Bogosian and quarterback the No. 1 power play with Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek. His parents, Miriam and Sorin, will be in the crowd, as will his oldest brother, Ben. His middle brother, Shai, isn’t expected to attend as his AHL team, Grand Rapids, is preparing for the Calder Cup playoffs.

Coach John Hynes made it official publicly for the first time Saturday after the Wild practiced inside the Golden Knights’ practice facility, but Buium indicated he had known for a few days.

“Just really thankful for the opportunity,” Buium said. “These guys have been building toward this the entire season, so I just want to go out there and do whatever I can to help. As we were going through the week, we were discussing (debuting). I think, for me, it was just continuing to feel more comfortable, feel more confident. And I thought today was a better practice for me than Thursday.”

Zeev Buium (with Zamboni in background) on his NHL debut pic.twitter.com/DEs9vppAHA

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 19, 2025

Buium will look to his right at even strength and find a grizzled, bearded vet in his 17^th season — or two years less than Buium has been alive. Bogosian, the No. 3 pick in the 2008 draft, has played 929 career regular-season games and another 54 in the playoffs, including winning a Stanley Cup in Tampa Bay. And Buium says Bogosian has already taken him under his wing, having him over to his house for dinner last week and “explaining every drill, making sure I understand it and helping me get around.”

“You’re just trying to be there for him, make sure he’s comfortable,” said Bogosian, 34. “Obviously, the last few days getting to see his skill set and his talent, it’s impressive. So at this point definitely more defensive in my career, just trying to be there for him and let him join the rush and do his thing, let him play his game, and hopefully mine, so it should be a fun time playing together.

“I just think you see a skill set right away. The way he handles the puck, the way he skates, the way he thinks the game, I think he has an offensive mind. You can kind of see that when he has the puck on his stick, he’s kind of scanning areas where he’s looking for plays to develop and that’s been something I’ve seen right away. It’s really cool to have that part of our group now.”

🗣️ Zach Bogosian and Brock Faber on what they see in Zeev#mnwild pic.twitter.com/MiDuLpRlUX

— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 19, 2025

Two years ago in the Dallas series, Wild No. 1 defenseman Brock Faber played two regular-season games after coming right from the Frozen Four like Buium, then played all six games in the playoffs. In Game 1 of that series, Faber made a game-saving play in double overtime to block Mason Marchment’s stab at a wide-open net. Three minutes later, Ryan Hartman scored the winning goal. Like Buium, Faber played third-pair minutes that he called “sheltered,” but he wasn’t on the ice for a single goal against in the series.

Faber’s now 22 and coming off his second full season after being the NHL’s Calder Trophy runner-up last season and finishing fourth in ice time this season.

Asked if he’ll share some savvy advice for Buium, Faber said, “When you’re in his spot, you come in and it almost feels like you’re gripping the stick. You don’t want to make a mistake. Especially me, when I was playing those minutes, when I was out there it was like, ‘please don’t mess up, please don’t mess up, I don’t want to ruin it for these guys.’

“For him, mistakes are going to happen. I made mistakes and whether he gets back to the bench, everyone turns the puck over every so often. It happens. Maybe you get beat out of the corner, it happens. You miss a pass, it happens. That’s something that my D partner, when I was playing, whoever it was, they were always like, ‘Dude, just keep going. You’re good, you’re good, we’re having fun.’”

Faber, one of the most elite skating defensemen in the NHL, has marveled at watching Buium move.

“You see flashes today of how good this kid is,” Faber said. “Just the way he moves his feet is so challenging and something that I couldn’t even think of doing. So every time he gets back to the bench, just let him know that if you make a mistake, try it again next shift. We’re teammates now.”

The key for Buium, even in such a high-pressure situation, is to take what he learned the past week in practice and on video and try to play within the system, but also play hockey and use the instincts that got him here. As Hynes said, “he’s here for a reason,” and this is why the Wild are so comfortable playing him in such a high-stakes environment.

But asked what he expects to be feeling Sunday before puck drop, Buium said, “A lot of excitement. I think I’ll be more nervous leading up to the game, rather than when I’m in it. Leading up to it, you tend to get in your head or whatnot. … I think once I get out there and get skating around, the nerves will kind of calm down and I’ll just be excited.”

Maybe the biggest question is whether he’ll make his rookie solo lap or if he’ll save it for his second “NHL debut” at the start of next season: “I don’t know. Whatever they tell me to do, I’ll do. If they tell me not to, I won’t.”

(Photo courtesy of Grace Mello / Minnesota Wild)

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