Zeev Buium skated out for warmups by himself ahead of his NHL debut in April like rookies traditionally do, but Buium had to wait months for a different rite of passage: his first training camp.
The defenseman’s accelerated arrival to the Wild has meant he hasn’t hit milestones in their typical order, like competing in the playoffs before he has even appeared in a regular-season game or an exhibition matchup.
Buium is filling in the blanks, getting reps in at camp after a puck to the hand last Thursday sidelined him for three practices, and he could draw in for preseason action as soon as Thursday night, when the Wild host Dallas at the newly renamed Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
He went from winning a national championship as a freshman at the University of Denver and getting drafted by the Wild to capturing a second consecutive gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championship and returning to the Frozen Four. After the Pioneers failed to repeat, he signed with the Wild to turn pro and was in their lineup for four of the six games vs. the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the playoffs.
“A lot of hockey over the last two, three years [with] no breaks really,” Buium said. “No Christmas break. No summer break, really. But it’s been good. Can’t complain when things are going well.”
“I prepared my body and mind the best I could,” Buium said. “Now it’s just playing hockey and playing with instincts and trying to get to my game as soon as possible and helping this team win. I’m going to try to do whatever I can.”
Whether that’s quarterbacking the power play or being tidy in his own zone, Buium has the potential to be a difference maker for the Wild, but he’s aware of the challenge that awaits him in trying to deliver at this level.
“The game is quicker. The puck is moved quicker. You can’t make mistakes,” he said. “In college, you make a mistake, it might not be in the back of your net. You make a big-time mistake here, nine times out of 10 they’re going to score.
“It’s little things like that, but it’s also just how dialed in on every little detail you have to be every game, every shift, and you can’t take a shift off. But I think that’s the most fun when you play like that. It’s like when you play in a Frozen Four or you play in those big games: You can’t take one second to take a breath. So, you get to do that every game, and I think that’s exciting.”
The Wild are expected to have more veterans in action Thursday vs. the Stars, but their prospects-turned-pros who have been in the minors (and are call-up possibilities in-season) have been competitive in the previous two preseason games, with coach John Hynes spotlighting defensemen David Spacek and Carson Lambos and forward Hunter Haight.
“Among others,” Hynes said, “but those few particularly to me stand out of guys that are of that ilk. … I see a difference in those guys.”