Wild’s Zeev Buium Discusses His Transition to the NHL With THW

“Yeah I mean I think, to me it’s like there’s a challenge every game. I’m still new to it, I think there’s something new every game, right? Whether it’s good or bad, something is new. It could be five-on-five, it could be power play, it could be anything, so I think as the games go on, just trying to find an in and tweak those things in-game. For me, it’s just trying not to make the same mistake twice,” said Buium about the biggest challenge he’s faced so far in the NHL. 

Buium Finds Confidence 

Nothing typically comes easy in the NHL, and that includes finding confidence to do the harder things, such as running a power play. Buium started the season running the Wild’s first unit, and while it started out strong, no one expected it to keep at the pace it was going. However, it’s started to struggle a bit more than anticipated as well, and the team has made some adjustments, including putting Jared Spurgeon on the top unit and Buium on the second in their most recent games.

“Man, I don’t know. I think I’ve been running a power play pretty much every team I’ve been on, and obviously, at every level, you have to adjust, and sometimes, like you see right now, started hot and now cooled off a little bit, but obviously, it’s still early, and want to get back to scoring as soon as possible. But I mean, I think it’s just the guys instilling that confidence in me and having the belief that I’m the guy to do it,” said Buium about finding the confidence to run the power play as a rookie. 

“For sure, yeah I mean when you have a guy like Kirill (Kaprizov), and Bolds (Boldy), Ekky (Eriksson Ek) and Vladdy (Tarasenko), and I mean the entire team just when they have the confidence in you to go out there and score a goal it means a lot for me and I’m sure it goes the same for other guys,” said Buium about having the trust of his teammates when he works on the power play. 

Buium’s Offensive Spark Explained

When watching Buium play, he has a different ability in his game that isn’t common among a lot of defensemen, and that’s his offensive creativity. While he’s still figuring out aspects of his defensive game, which do need to be honed since that’s his main priority, his offense is quite strong. 

The reason behind that could be that he spent a good chunk of his young career as a forward. He rotated between center and defense when he was younger, which gives him a unique perspective on both positions and a way to adapt it to his game in ways others can’t. 

“Actually, I played forward pretty much my entire life until I got to Shattuck St. Mary’s (Prep School), and I became like a full-time D, but other than that, I was a forward growing up,” explained Buium when asked if he only played defense his whole career. 

“Not really, I mean, I was always kind of a center, so I always switched back and forth between D and center. Like when I played at the (Los Angeles) Jr Kings (13U AAA) if we needed to score, I’d go play center so it’s nice to be able to have both. I’m actually really grateful that I got to play forward and play center for that long just to understand that position, and I think that’s maybe that’s where my creativity comes from and wanting to be in the play, because as a forward, we obviously want to be in the play. I think that’s still instilled in me,” Buium explained on how it wasn’t a terrible transition from forward to defense. 

Wild Help Buium Feel Welcome

One of the biggest keys to a player being able to adjust to the NHL is how their team treats them, and the Wild have no problem welcoming their rookies to the team. The transition is going to be difficult no matter where they are, but having teammates who help and support makes all the difference. 

“I think coming in this room. I think you hear about how hard it is to transition into the NHL, in that lockeroom, especially being a kid, but the guys are great. I mean, everyone treats you with so much respect and certainly don’t feel like a rookie, so yeah, it’s been great to come in here and have all the guys be so supportive and awesome to me,” said Buium when asked about what the easiest adjustment has been on his NHL experience so far. 

Part of that experience has already included a road trip where plenty of pranking and jokes are involved, typically along with team bonding and becoming more of a cohesive unit. When asked if there were any fun stories to tell, Buium had one that was short and sweet. 

“I got into Bold’s room and scared him a little bit, but nothing crazy. I should’ve videotaped it, but I didn’t. That was the only thing, though,” said Buium when asked about the road trip and any shenanigans that may have unfolded. There should be plenty more Wild road trips in Buium’s future as he continues to adjust and grow into his role on this team. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of player he becomes down the road, and he will hopefully help them secure some more wins as well.