Zeev Buium

2025-07-09

Scout: Jeremy Vercillo

Skating:

Buium is a very slick skater. He moves at a high pace and has great lateral mobility. He also is great at opening up lanes with head or shoulder fakes. Very elusive. His skating can get himself into trouble at times defensively, because he's always on the move even if it drifts him out of position a bit.

Passing/Handling:

Buium's handling is top notch too. He's got great hand-eye and can do so at a high speed. This will be a strength of his game when combined with his skating ability.

Shooting:

I'd like to see Buium shoot the puck more. I really only watched him pass up opportunities and the NHL website only has him with 2 SOG in 4 GP (granted those were like 13 mins a night in a playoff environment). As with many pass-first D, adding a shot to his arsenal could make his passing even more effective.

IQ (Vision, Anticipation, Panic/Poise):

His offensive IQ is quite good, able to see plays develop and create opportunities. A great PP1 QB skillset. Defensively I find him puckwatching and drifting a bit too much. There were definitely multiple instances of "what is he doing THERE" in the defensive zone and in transition. He also is almost too aggressive at trying to skate the puck. He has the skills to beat guys one-on-one often, but the risk of exposing his team to an odd-man break should temper this habit.

Forechecking:

n/a

Defense:

His stick-on-puck defense is quite good, and he plays the body well for a smaller, younger guy. He still has room to improve, I think he'll grow into this game a bit more and be able to use his skating ability to shut guys down.

Best Asset:

Footwork/Agility

Biggest Concern:

Overly aggressive on the offensive side of the puck

Top Tier/Role Potential:

Top-5 D in the league

Justification for Top Tier Assessment:

If he improves his defensive game to be rewarded with 25+ minutes a night, his offense will really shine. He has all the skillsets of the top-tier young defensemen today.

50th Percentile Tier/Role:

Top-4+PP D

Justification for 50th Percentile Tier Assessment:

He may lose minutes if he can't be trusted defensively. I think his offense will keep him on a team for a long time, like Klingberg, Barrie, or Gostisbehere. He's got more skills than those guys and plenty of opportunities to prove his defense.

Stylistic Comparable:

Lane Hutson

Scouts Final Thoughts and Additional Stats/Info:

I'd like to see Minnesota hand him PP1 and top-4 minutes next year to iron out the kinks in his game. I don't think he has anything to learn or prove at the AHL level.

Games Scouted:

NHL playoffs, World Championships