It still hasn’t completely sunk in for Zeev Buium.
A year ago, Buium was the top recruit in the University of Denver’s incoming freshman class, but he arrived with a fraction of the hype of players like Macklin Celebrini at Boston University and the trio of Will Smith, Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault at Boston College.
Now, as Buium prepares for the NHL draft combine next week in Buffalo, N.Y., he is considered one of the top players in the 2024 class and should be one of the first 10 players selected next month in Las Vegas.
“It’s been an unbelievable year. I couldn’t have written it up any better,” Buium said. “It was such a unique year. Something I’ll never forget. I’ve looked back a little bit now just because everything’s kind of calmed down and I still can’t quite wrap my head around it. Hopefully, when I’m 30 or 40 (years old), I can look back and finally understand how special it was.”
Buium was considered a potential first-round pick when his freshman season began with the Pioneers. He was a top defenseman at the United States National Team Development Program, and he is the younger brother of a quality prospect.
As his freshman season progressed, everything changed. He became not only one of the best first-year defensemen in college hockey, but one of the best regardless of age.
Buium helped the United States win gold at the IIHF U-20 world junior championship. He helped the Pios claim an NCAA-record 10th national championship, beating both BU and BC at the Frozen Four in the process.
“He had as dominant of a freshman year as you can have in college hockey,” DU coach David Carle said. “Really proud of him and all the things that he was able to accomplish — the winning, the team play.
“His play has shown that he’s deserving of being drafted as high as he will be. I don’t think there’s a player in the draft that impacts the game shift-to-shift like he does, with how much he’s on the ice. And when I say anyone in the draft, I mean everyone in the draft. … We think really highly of him and whatever team ends up drafting him is getting a great person first and an excellent hockey player.”
Buium had 11 goals and 50 points in 42 games for the Pioneers. The San Diego native had three goals and five points in seven games for the U.S. team at the WJC, despite seeing very little time on the power play.
He has the chance to be the highest selection in the NHL draft to have played for DU. The Pioneers have had four first-round picks in school history. Craig Redmond, who played for the Pios in 1982-83, was the No. 6 pick in the 1984 draft. Henrik Borgstrom, who was the most recent first-round pick to play for the Pios, went at No. 23 in 2016.
Shai Buium was the No. 36 pick by Detroit in the 2021 draft. Zeev said he has tried to avoid looking at where he’s been ranked or where mock drafts say he might go, but he is very likely to be selected before where his older brother was three years ago.
“We are definitely competitive with each other. If that happens, I’ll definitely give him some (grief)” the younger Buium said. “He’s been the biggest help and I’ve leaned on him a lot for sure. He’s just told me to be yourself. Don’t be anything different, because you want a team to take you for who you are.”
While he might have begun the 2023-24 season as a fringe first-round pick, a lot has changed. Both Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranked Buium in the top five of the 2024 draft prospects in their most recent updates. Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis placed Buium at No. 6 earlier this month. ESPN’s Rachel Doerrie has him at No. 7.
Regardless of where he’s drafted, Buium confirmed Thursday that he is, as of now, planning to return to Denver for his sophomore season. That has become the typical development path for the top NCAA defensemen.
Cale Makar, Jake Sanderson, Owen Power, and both Quinn and Luke Hughes have all been drafted in the top seven since 2017, and all of them played two seasons of college hockey before turning pro.
“I don’t think that would hurt me at all,” Buium said. “I’m a young kid. I love this place a lot, too. We want to defend our title as well. I think that’s a challenge I want to attack. You never really know what can happen with the draft. We’ll decide after the draft, but for me right now my feet are here.”
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